The Cleaner
by slyt
Summary: Homeless, Bella survives the only way she can. When she becomes mixed up in a life or death situation, will Edward save her, or destroy her? AH/OOC
1. Chapter 1

_**Authors Note:**_

_**Okay, this is my first fan fiction so be nice **_

_**I want to thank Greenaway and Cinnamon for all their help without it this wouldn't be happening.**_

_** Tkegl for all her help and for the awesome banner she made me for my story. You can go to my profile to see banner.  
**_

**Bellavista for everything she did and being my wonderful beta.**

_**Disclaimer:**_ **Stephanie Meyers**_** owns Twilight. I own The Cleaner  
**_

**Song for this chapter Are you happy now by Michelle Branch  
**

_**CHAPTER 1: **_

_**There are all kinds of rats in the world. Some sneak into your bed in the middle of the night, nibbling at your toes or stealing the stale piece of bread you've hidden under your pillow for later.**_

_**And some are even worse.**_

_**BPOV**_

My name is Isabella Swan but I go by Bella. I live in an abandoned warehouse with five others, four of them were the coolest people I had ever met, the fifth Jane, she didn't like me much but I was hoping that would change once we'd lived together for a while.

They would give you the shirt off their back and we all have each others backs. I don't know how I got so lucky finding them. But somehow I did.

There are six of us all together, Riley, Charlotte, Peter and Ben, Jane and of course me.

Peter and Charlotte are the only ones who are a couple. They are in love; they came together and when the time comes, they will leave together. They are never separated; they even do every job together.

Our job? We pick pockets for a living.

Well not a living so much, but to live. To survive.

And survival is all you can do as a runaway, especially when you run without a plan.

When you make the decision to run, it's all you think about. You don't think about what you're gonna need to make life easier once you're out living on your own.

If you did think about it, the first thing you'd do, the first thing I would have done was grab ID. Cause as I found out, you can't get a job if you can't prove who the fuck you are and they don't wanna know you if they can't fucking tax you.

Life without a birth certificate or a social security number is fucking hard if you wanted to be 's true that there are people that can make that shit for you, create a whole new identity, but that cost money. Money we didn't have.

We made enough pick pocketing to eat, buy other things as needed and keep the man who came around off our ass. His job basically was to make sure people didn't vandalize or try to stay here, which is what we do. So hence the pay off.

We all have our stories, stories of how we ended up here together.

There were similarities, things that not only drew us together but kept us together as well.

We could empathize because we had all ended up as outcasts; even though our reasons for getting to this point were unique there were threads to our stories that resonated with all of us.

I had a home, parents who loved me in their own way; at least I thought they loved me.

I grew up in a small town called Forks; a shit hole of a town in Washington with my parents Renee and Charlie Swan. Renee and I had a good relationship when I was growing up. That was until I started high school, got friends and grew up.

It was then Renee realized that I was no longer the little girl who liked her mommy to comb her hair and put it in ponytails.

I considered myself to be an average teenager who liked to do normal teenager things, like hanging out with my friends, going to the mall, looking at guys and going to parties. I thought of myself as an average looking girl, nothing special. I had long brown hair and brown eyes.

While I did not think I was beautiful by any means I wasn't exactly ugly either.

My mother Renee was a free spirit; I blamed her for my rebellious side. She and my father were polar opposites, but I think being in this one horse town for so long had drained the fun and free spirit out of her. Now she was strict and boring like my dad.

Renee was like me in looks; she had the same brown hair and brown eyes and she was pretty. My father Charlie was a different story. He had dark black hair and a mustache that was so 70's, as a matter of fact I think it was the mustache he had in the 70's. As far as I could see there was no family resemblance between Charlie and me.

He was Mayor of Forks and he thought he was the big man. Ya Charlie really impressive, I mean really; was this town even on the map?

I remember a time when my dad used to be kind of fun to be around and a time when he was home more often, but that was before he got elected to Mayor. That was when he used to just be Police Chief Charlie.

We lived in a nice house, in a nice neighborhood. Everything was just so nice, a fairytale existence. That was until I reached my teens and started living my life like I wanted to.

Sure I got into a bit of trouble those four years of high school. But I'd have to say the real problems started my senior year when I turned 18. I started to go out to more parties and not always make it home by curfew but I kept my grades above C's and graduated.

After high school I had decided to take a year off before going to college and hang out with my friends.

In retrospect I should have left that town right after graduation and gone to college. I should have never looked back.

But I wanted to hang out with friends and enjoy my last summer.

What a stupid idiot I was, because that decision led me directly to where I am now. Sitting in the abandoned warehouse I now called home.

I still remember the day it all went down, things had been bad at home, but that particular day they got a hell of a lot worse...

My eyes narrowed and my mouth twisted into a scowl when I thought back over the day I lost my family; lost my home.

_**Flash back**_

_My nerves were near shot when Larry, the random guy I met that morning at the house of the party I was at, pulled his car up to my parent's driveway. _

_I looked towards the house and took a deep breath knowing I was going to be in so much trouble when I walked in the door._

_I knew I had seriously fucked up. I did, but it really wasn't my fault. Shit just seemed to happen to me and I had no way of controlling it. _

_But do you think I could convince my mother of that? Not fucking likely._

_"Thanks for the ride Larry," I said trying to think of any excuse to not have to get out of his car and deal with what was waiting for me inside._

_But I knew I had too._

"_Good luck Bella," Larry said sympathetically as I opened the door and slid out of the car. _

"_Think I'm gonna need more than luck," I mumbled as I shut the door and made my way toward the house._

_I was half way up the porch steps when the door flew open and Renee appeared. She stood in the doorway with her hands planted on her hips glaring at me._

_"Where have you been Isabella Marie Swan? Your father and I have been worried sick about you!" I looked around; I had to laugh to myself. If Charlie was so worried why wasn't he here? I walked in the house and Renee followed behind me slamming the front door shut, no doubt to emphasize her displeasure._

_"Mom don't start," I said quickly trying to head her off. "I'm sorry but I am 18 years old. I'm an adult and can do what I damn well please. Now if you would excuse me I'm going to take a shower because I had one hell of a night and I'm really tired."_

"_Don't you talk to me like that Isabella Marie Swan, I am your mother! You want to be treated like an adult? Then act like one, damn it. Stealing, staying out all night, drinking and drugs and god knows what else..." She ranted._

_Fury rolled through me, "well when you act like a mother I will fucking treat you like one," I yelled back not wanting to have this conversation again. _

_God I knew I was supposed to be home by 1 am and ya it's 1 pm the next day but I couldn't help it. I didn't have a ride home from the party so I crashed where I was._

_It was the logical fucking solution to me why wasn't it for Renee?_

_Did she want me to fucking walk home? Risk getting attacked by some random loser?_

_"My ride ditched me, did you want me to fucking walk home Renee?" I said again trying to make her see reason._

_"I want you to mind me Isabella that is what I want. I swear I don't know what happened to you, you used to be my sweet daughter who never gave me a moment of grief." _

_Was Renee really that blind?_

_"I grew up Renee that's what happened. I am not 8 years old anymore; you won't let me live my life." I yelled in frustration._

_"Live your life? You are only eighteen Isabella. And I let you live your life; I allowed you go out after being grounded for a month. But you can't even come home when you are suppose to. How the am I suppose to let you live your life? I can't even trust you! Are you doing drugs, is that what this is all about, are you smoking marijuana? Tell me Isabella, you tell me now!"_

_"OH MY GOD Mom; are you serious? Really are you serious... You know what; don't bother answering that, I am done! I'm over this. Ugh... I'm going to my room. And I have told you repeatedly I DO NOT DO DRUGS. Why do you always do this to me? If I say one thing you don't like you accuse me of doing drugs. I am not a druggie mom, hell it wasn't even my fault last time you grounded me, but you wouldn't listen. You never fucking listen to me" _

_This was the whole crux of the issue right there._

_Renee's idea and my idea of what constituted a druggie differed greatly._

_Yes I smoked a joint here and there but would I admit that to her? No way._

_It's not like I have to have it; I'm not an addict. But if someone had some weed at a party and offered me some fuck ya I'm gonna take a hit off of it. I am a normal teenager after all. And the reason I got grounded last time was totally not even my fault. It was those bitches Lauren and Jessica. They were the ones that stole shit from Mike, then they turned around and planted it in my locker. _

_They set me fucking up two weeks before graduation._

_But as pissed as I was at them, it was nothing to how I felt when I saw the look on my parent's face when they came to the school._

_They had already decided I had stolen Mike's iPod._

_I mean why would I do that, I didn't need Mike's cheap ass piece of shit iPod, I had my own. But it was in my locker along with this chick Angela's purse, so imagine my surprise when the principle did the surprise check on my locker due to an anonymous tip, well fuck me._

_The look on their faces said it all. Their daughter, the daughter of the great Mayor of the town was a thief._

_And now this, not making it home by curfew. Renee was totally overreacting and I was in no mood to deal with it._

_It wasn't my fault I missed my curfew, my ride bailed, told me they were going to the store and I was so drunk and tired , I laid down figuring when they got back we would leave. I remember the clock said it was 11:30pm._

_Trouble was, they didn't come back. When I woke up it was after two in the morning and there was no way that I was gonna call Mommy and Daddy for a ride at a party with underage drinking. That was not fucking me._

_"I bet you have drugs up there right now!" Renee had said. _

_"What? What are you? No. Where are you going Renee? I'm asking you a question what the hell?" I yelled as she was walking up the stairs._

_She turned on the stairs looking at me, "I am done with this Isabella, done do you hear me? Your father will NOT get you out of it this time young lady. Do you know how many favors your father had to call in to get your thief charge taken care of privately? Without you seeing a day in jail? DO YOU? Do you even care? No you don't... I am done talking to you."_

_She continued walking up the stairs. _

_I couldn't believe this shit was happening._

_It was then I remembered I was holding Tyler's weed for him fuck fuck fuck, and shit just got a whole lot worse. Tyler's parents busted him a couple of days ago and they had got all of his weed but one bag._

_And guess what dumb ass said they would hold it for him till shit cooled off? _

_... UM that would be dumb fuck me._

_She would never believe it's not mine, I couldn't let her search my room._

_"MOM!" I screamed running up the stairs after her._

_Fuck for an older woman the bitch could move when she was on a mission._

_I reached the top of the stairs just as she was going through my dresser draws, throwing socks, bras and underwear all over the place._

"_Renee would you stop?" I started to grab the clothes off the floor trying to push her out of the way and put them back._

_My eyes scanned over to bulging sock on the floor, the one that held Tyler's weed in it. Thank god she didn't notice, I quickly went for the sock but she spun around and glared at me; I froze. _

_"Bella, I..."she stopped talking and eyed what I was grabbing for, "what is in that sock? Give it to me now!"_

"_No, fuck that. You threw my shit all over the floor, I am picking it up, I can't even believe you. What are you the sock police now?"_

_I bent down to grab the sock along with a couple of pair's of bras and panties, when all of a sudden I felt arms go around my waist and I was thrown onto the bed. _

_Seriously what the hell was going on with this woman?_

_When she put her mind to something she turned into the damn bionic woman._

_I bounced off the bed and was just reaching for my sock when she grabbed my wrist; digging her nails into it, trying to get me to let go of the sock._

_By total reflex I went to push her arm with my free hand but I used a little too much force and sent her falling back into the wall. _

_"OH MY GOD MOM," I ran to her in a panic trying to help her. "Are you OK? I'm so sorry." I really was, I never meant to push her that hard and I didn't mean to make her fall. She was just staring at me like I was the devil himself._

_"Get your hands off of me NOW!" She screamed, reaching for her phone. "I am calling your father. I am done with this shit, do you hear me? You are gone. Maybe some time in jail will do you good, will teach you to appreciate what you have. Now give me that sock!"_

_"Mom, calm down and just talk to me," I said freaking out and wondering how this all happened. I wasn't a bad kid. I did dumb shit, who didn't at my age? _

_But this was like a bad dream that I couldn't seem to wake up from. This couldn't have been happening to me. _

_It's like I was watching this all happen in slow motion and in the third person. I watched as my mom's mouth was moving, pointing at me, she was screaming something but I couldn't hear what she was saying. It was all a blur._

_I did hear something sounding like drug dealer, I don't know. _

_Next thing I know she had got up and crossed the room._

_She slapped me hard across my face._

_Well, that woke me up. I looked at her in shock, no matter what had ever happened; my mother or my father had never raised a hand to me. _

_And now she had and it wasn't just a tap, it was hard, it felt like my whole face was on fire. Tears started to run down my face. _

_I started backing away from her and tripped over a shoe laying on the floor and fell backwards, and my hand landed on the sock that had the bag of weed in it. _

_My one hand was across my face holding it; it burned, while my other hand cupped the sock. _

_I looked at the woman who I use to love and felt nothing but hatred in that moment. _

_Her face mirrored the same imagine as mine, sheer horror._

_"Bella, I..." Renee started to say...but I cut that shit right off._

_"You ...You hit me!" I cried in a whispering voice._

_Something like fear or panic flashed across her features before what looked like anger , she looked down at the sock then bent down to pick up the phone never taking her eyes off me._

_"Well you, you were out of control Isabella. I had no choice, you, you," pointing a finger at me, "you attacked me, I had to defend myself. You are out of your mind on drugs."_

_I stared at her not believing the words that were coming out of her mouth, she , my mother believed I attacked her and I was on drugs and she was saying this to me and into the phone...this couldn't be happening , no..._

"_Yes Charlie," my mother glared at me as she spoke to my father, "she's out of control, you heard her and she is high on drugs. I'm scared ...Yes please send them now... Hurry. NO Charlie I will not calm down she attacked me." My mother was yelling into the phone… _

_"Wha...what , mom, mommy," I was crying, I got up and started to walk towards her , this was a mistake , my mother couldn't be scared of me ...no she couldn't possible think I would hurt her. I had to make this right but... She hit me. _

_"You just stay where you are young lady the police are coming. And your father is on the phone ... he heard everything don't you dare try anything, and," she looked down at the sock, "that is going to the police."_

_She went to grab for the sock and suddenly something came over me._

_I snapped._

_This was not my mother, this was not my home._

_I grabbed the sock and ran down the stairs and out the front door. I could hear Renee screaming at me but I didn't stop. I couldn't stop._

_I heard the sirens in the back ground getting closer and I just kept pushing my legs to run faster. Tears falling faster down my face, blurring my vision but I kept running away from there._

**End Flash Back**

So that's how I ended up here in New York, not initially that night, the night my whole world came crashing down around me. Thinking about that night always put me in a bad mood.

"Hey earth to Bella, hello...Yo B...E...L...L...A?" I was brought back to the present by Mouse waving his hand in my face.

We called him Mouse because he could get in and out of any situation without being seen and he could fit through the smallest spaces too. Ben was his real name but none of us called him that. He looked like an emo with his dyed black hair, he kept it cut in short with it all pulled forward into a triangle like point for bangs. And the kid was skinny as a rail. He always looked so sad, but you get that being on the street, knowing no one cared where you were or if you were OK and he had been on his own from the age of thirteen. He had been alone until Charlotte and Peter found him sleeping in the corner of the warehouse, I guess I wouldn't have much to smile about either if I had been on the streets from such a young age.

Peter had told me he'd found Mouse asleep on the floor with no mattress or blankets; just there on the cold concrete. Peter said he'd felt a great deal of sympathy for Mouse, but Mouse didn't want sympathy he reckoned the concrete floor of the warehouse was better than where he use to live.

I never asked much about Mouse's former life but I knew it wasn't good. Damn he was only a kid when he first hit the streets three years ago, shit he was still a kid now at barely sixteen.

Mouse was very street-smart he could tell us where the best places to sleep at night were if we needed emergency accommodation and which restaurants threw out the 'best food', and he knew all the locations to look for our 'marks' and the best routes of escape.

"Mouse get your hand out of my face," I said slapping it away. "Now what do you want?" I said it a bit nastier then I meant too.

"Umm, ya whatever Swan, meeting in five."

"Mouse, hold up!" I yelled.

He turned around and looked and me, "huh?" he said.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you, it's just…"

"I know Swan, it's cool," he said as he walked away.

They all called me by my last name.

~~~~XXXX~~~~

I started to head towards the meeting room; it's where we had cardboard boxes with all the streets drawn on where the wealthy people shopped, and where the business people walk the streets to and from work. Or on their lunch breaks.

As I got to the room it struck me how much we had all been through in the 5 months I have been with them and how much I had grown to care about each one of them even Jane somewhat. They had all been out on the streets longer than me.

I looked over at Charlotte and Peter sitting together with their hands entwined. They had been on the run for a year; Peter's parents were still looking for him.

We knew that because we had passed a missing persons sign the other day with his picture on it. He had to spend money on hair dye, constantly changing his look to avoid detection. He use to have brown hair, but now he dyes it black and has started to grow a mustache. He figured once he turned 18 in a couple of months they couldn't consider him a runaway anymore and he could go back to normal.

Peter was the all American looking boy with his brown hair and brown eyes. He was in good physical shape due to the years spent learning Karate. He was nowhere near as buff as Riley, but he was well built. He had made the honor roll every year and could have gotten into any college he wanted, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Duke, Dartmouth any of the top ten.

But he had given it all up for the love of his life, Charlotte.

It was a sad tragic but beautiful thing though. I couldn't imagine every finding love like that.

The thought of someone who had everything and giving it all up just to be with the one they loved. That was the stuff of fairytales.

Peter had though; he threw it all away the night Charlotte came to his door.

Charlotte had told me it was hard to look at him at first, the guilt she carried knowing he basically threw his life away for her, it ate her up inside. She was the reason he left a loving home and loving parents to runaway.

They're both only seventeen and would have been graduating high school this year. Charlotte's grades weren't good enough to get her a free ride into any of the colleges that would accept Peter, but they couldn't be apart so whatever College he went to she was going to follow and get a job while attending a community College nearby.

I glanced at Charlotte; she had long brown hair like mine and beautiful blue eyes. She wasn't a bad kid she just grew up in a rough neighborhood with a mother who wouldn't be winning any parenting awards and a sick fucked step father.

My eyes shifted from Charlotte to the others in the room, Riley, Mouse and Jane were sitting around talking. Well Mouse and Riley were talking; Jane just sat there quietly looking at Mouse.

Riley or 'the protector' as we called him sometimes, was the one you want to be with on a job if you ever got into trouble.

Jane was a strange girl and quite frankly she scared the shit out of me. She was tough for a girl and while I was not one to judge a book by its cover, she looked like the type of girl you would want to avoid.

The dark black makeup around her eyes and a tattoo of the scary looking frog on the side of her face and her multiple facial piercing only added to her terrifying presence.

I don't know her story and I have never asked. The first day Riley had brought me to the warehouse she'd asked 'who the fuck' I was and told me she 'didn't like me.'

The others assured me that it wasn't really personal that it was just the way she was.

I took her words to heart and tended to stay out of her way. I had seen her beat the shit out of a man who grabbed her one time after he realized she had taken his wallet.

Her attack on him was brutal and she was still trying to kick and punch him when Riley stepped in to restrain her.

I was brought from my reverie by the scraping of Riley's chair across the concrete floor the sound sent a shudder through me.

"What's up guys?" I said trying to bring myself into the conversation.

"Hey Bella, decided to stop daydreaming have you?" Riley said with a playful smirk.

I ignored his jibe, "Where's Char and Pete?" I asked looking around. I hadn't noticed them leave the room.

"Don't know where they disappeared too actually. Can you go and find them? We are losing daylight." Riley said with a slight frown marring his features.

"OK, I guess I could," I could feel Jane's burning gaze on me but I didn't dare turn to face her. I swear if looks could hurt I would be withering on the ground screaming out in pain right now.

"Yeah you run along little Swan." Jane snarled at me suddenly.  
"Hey come on, leave her alone Jane," Mouse said in response to Jane's unprovoked attack.

Jane rolled her eyes but didn't say anything else. I made my way out of the room, glad to get away from the psycho.

As I was walked away I heard Riley confront Jane, "what the fuck is your problem with her anyways Jane?" I didn't stay to find out.

I took off in the direction of Peter and Char's room but stop suddenly when I heard their angry voices coming from that direction.

I went to turn and leave not wanting to intrude on their private affairs, when I heard Peter's voice turn pleading. I stopped, wanting to know what had made him go from angry to pleading in less than a heartbeat. I know it was wrong but I cared for both of them and if something was really wrong maybe I could help.

"You can't go out Charlotte, I won't let you. It's too dangerous for you now. You have to be extra careful."

Charlotte's voice was soft but also pleading, "Peter for one we don't even know I am yet. And two you can't be like this; I have to go; you are the one who put this rule in place. No one goes out alone ever!" Charlotte raised her voice slightly trying to push home her point.

"Well there you go; it's my rule, so I can break it. I am your partner, I have a say in this Charlotte. You don't make decisions without me. And I can take care of myself." His voice rose slightly, it was obvious he was trying to control his anger.

"For fuck sake Pete, you are being stupid, God I wish I never told you," Charlotte spat.

"WHAT?" Pete yelled his anger finally spilling over, "I can't even fucking believe you Char, after everything we've been through all I gave up..." he stopped suddenly at the sound of Charlotte's gasp. "Baby," Peter said, "I... FUCK I didn't mean that. You know I didn't mean that, it's just... fuck I can't do my job and worry about you. Come here baby; you know you're my whole world. Nothing, nothing means shit in this fucking world without you. I just... I will not have your..." he paused took a deep breath and whispered something I could not hear.

"Tsk, Tsk Swan." Jane hissed from behind me; her voice dripped with venom. "What would Charlotte and Peter think if they knew that's what you do with your free time; eavesdrop on personal conversations?" I spun around, Jane standing behind me with a menacing look on her face.

Before I had a chance to react Peter's angry voice shattered the spiraling silence.

"What the fuck?" I turned at the sound of approaching footsteps and was confronted by Peter's angry face. Charlotte stood silently at his side, "What the fuck is going on out here you too?"

I opened my mouth to speak but Jane beat me too it. "I was coming to find you all and I stumbled upon little Swan here skulking in the hallway. And I have just discovered that she actually has a skill; it's listening in on private conversations." She said slyly her voice dripping with malice.

I spun around to face her, fear bubbled inside me at the vicious look she wore. As scared as I was of her, I felt the need to defend myself.

"What?... No…" I stuttered. I turned back to face Peter and Charlotte, Peter looked furious and Charlotte's expression had guilt flooding through me, she looked, well, like I had just ran over her puppy dog. "Oh no I… I wasn't…" I said turning back to Jane.

I mustered up the strength to stand up to her, and even though I was eavesdropping I defended myself. "It wasn't like that and Jane doesn't know what she is talking about," I glared at her then turned back to Peter and Charlotte, "I would never ever purposely listen in on your conversations. I swear. Riley asked me to come and look for you… I've only just got here… and Oh god I'm sorry; I really wasn't trying to listen in. Really I wasn't; not like she," I said turning back towards Jane, "implied."

Jane was giving me one of her death glares, the ones which were designed to wither your insides with their scorching ferocity. "Whatever," she rolled her eyes, "I don't fucking care, I was told to see what was taking so long. I came, I saw Bella leaning against the wall listening in. She was listening that intently she didn't even hear me approaching. And I'm calling her out on it. Believe whatever the hell you want. I don't give a fuck, but if you want my opinion she is worthless and nothing but trouble and needs to go running home to her Mommy and Daddy."

She turned on her heels and walked back down the hall.

I turned back to Peter and Charlotte and tried to explain, "I am…" I was stopped short by Peter's hand coming up...

"Charlotte go on to the meeting room I'll be right there." He said quietly. He took a deep breath and looked at me for what seemed like forever. "I don't know where you came from Swan; but here we respect each others privacy… It's fucking bad enough we are all here together 24/7; we should at least have the right to have a private conversation. We all fucking should be able to... I don't know what you fucking heard..."

I tried to intervene and explain before the situation escalated, "I really didn't…" I started to say but he stopped me.

"But if you did, you will NOT repeat it and you will not fucking do this again. Do we understand each other?" Peter said, his voice laced with anger.

"Yeah and I'm sorry , I just…"

He stopped me again, "I don't want to hear it, now let's go; everyone is fucking waiting," he growled.

~~~~~~~XXXXXXXX~~~~~~

I didn't feel like talking much as Riley and I headed out onto the streets. We were working Madison for a bit then moving on to Fifth Avenue. The section of Fifth Avenue between 34th Street and 59th Street is one of the premier shopping streets in the world.

This was the top place to go for our type of 'job', a pick pockets heaven.  
The Elite residents of New York and rich foreign visitor's flocked there in droves, bringing with them lots of cash and credit cards. Normally pickpockets never dealt with credit cards, they would rather deal in cash or jewelry. Jewelry is a favorite of pickpockets because of how easy things were to sell off and they were virtually untraceable.

We took credit cards.

Luckily for us, Mouse had a met a guy when he first starting living on the streets who showed him how to activate stolen credit cards and access credit card numbers for the cash. Mouse had told us he was the first person who was ever really nice to him.

Trent was his name, he had kind of felt bad for Mouse and took him under his wing and taught him how to survive on the streets. Mouse said he'd got caught up in some shit one day selling drugs. Trent was making some fat money. He had been in the process of bringing Mouse into the 'fold' introducing him to some of the people, but it had never eventuated.

Trent had came up short one day. He was meant to have had more money or a left over bag. Mouse said they had hunted the poor guy down and killed him.

A warning apparently.

Trent was used as an example, to show the others that they did not and would not tolerate thieving or mistakes in their 'organization'.

Mouse said they came looking for him a couple of times to 'question him'about the whereabouts of the missing cash and drugs.

They never caught up with him though, Mouse true to his name, was too fast and slick, he managed to escape unharmed. It had shaken him though and he told us he was scared for about a year after that. Paranoia had him always watching over his shoulder. He's more relaxed now though, he figures they'd have forgotten about him by now.

It wasn't until Peter and Charlotte came around that he finally started to trust and talk to people again.

Mouse really was the most valuable member of our group and the most talented. He was the one who taught us how to pick pocket. He, Peter and Charlotte had found a mannequin behind an abandoned building while out dumpster diving, looking for food.

They had been talking about how to make money so when they saw "Sally" as she was named, they brought 'her' home. That night Mouse started to teach them the art of pick pocketing, it was a very difficult skill to acquire, one that involved a great deal of concentration and a very quick and steady hand.

I likened the art of pick pocketing to the sleight of hand used by a magician. Rings and watches were the hardest to steal as they were on the 'mark's body, wallets out of handbags or pockets was a lot easier. Once we had learned the basics on the 'Sally' we moved onto practicing on each other. Using live targets was really the only way to test your skills…

My thoughts drifted to Jane, she had joined the group after Peter and Charlotte. She had been out on the streets for two years and apparently had been running with a gang who mugged people. She had no problem with that type of stealing and I guessed that's why she was so tough, mugging was a violent type of stealing and the chances of confrontation with the 'mark' were higher so you had to be able to defend yourself to survive.

When Riley joined them they taught him too, he found it more difficult than the others. While he was adept at taking wallets from pockets and handbags he found it difficult to get rings off of fingers and watches from wrists. He was frustrated that he couldn't pick up the skill, but Mouse had assured him it was due to his large hands more than anything.

I was the last to learn the trade; it took me a little time to get it right, I would practice for hours always trying to improve. I was good with purses, watches and rings and the better I got at it the more confident I became.

"So you gonna talk Swan or just walk like a fucking zombie all day?" Riley said snapping my attention back to the present and our mission.

"Fuck, I'm sorry Riley just got a lot on my mind. What were you saying?"

"I can fucking tell. You've been like this since you and Peter came back into the meeting earlier," he said.

I looked up at Riley. He was right, but I just didn't want to talk about it. I just shrugged and changed the subject. "Let's do this," I said.

I could tell he didn't want to drop it and I knew by the look on his face that he was going to bring the subject up again at a later time, but he thankfully let it go for now.

The beginning of the 'job' started out fairly easy, I was about ten people in front of Riley and the sidewalk was packed.

We arrived at Madison Ave and I was hyped up. I wanted to get on with the 'job' to take my mind off of the shit that had happened earlier today as much as anything else.

I stopped to window shop, of course part of the ploy; I had identified my first 'mark', a man wearing an expensive gold Rolex watch. I turned my body slightly so I could watch him approach in the reflection in the window. I waited until he was directly behind me before I turned and 'accidentally' bumped into him.

As my fingers curled around his wrist to catch myself from falling I quickly unclasped his watch. I quickly removed my hand and mumbled a quick "sorry."

"That's alright dear," he said with a smile, completely unaware that I now had his expensive watch clasped tightly in my fist.

I smile back politely and stepped into the bustling foot traffic blending easily in with the crowd. Once I was in the clear I removed my backpack dropped the watch in and continued on. I repeated the same scene a couple of times before stopping to meet up with Riley.

-XXXXXXXX-

"Fuck Swan we hit the jack pot with this one. All these rich mother fuckers shopping here are ours for the picking, it's just too fucking easy, like shooting fish in a barrel," he chuckled.

"Gotta love your job eh Riley?" I said smiling as we got ready for our last hit of the day. I never saw what we did as evil or that we were heartless people. In fact we were very conscious for thieves; we only ever stole from people who could afford to replace the items we took.

"OK so lost girl in New York looking for directions? Or maybe can't find the parents again? Or how about the role you play so well; clumsy girl falls into oncoming shoppers?" Riley said with a smirk.

"God I hate you…" I said laughing while pushing his chest with my hands… "Clumsy girl..." I mumbled in response to his question.

"Ah you do love me Swan, I love clumsy girl," Riley teased while dodging away from my jabs to his stomach. "Alright let's get serious, you know the drill I'll be over there looking for the goose with the golden egg, when I find them you start walking and do what you do so well."

I shook my head laughing; he came up with some funny shit. When 'we were working' he was serious, we all were, but in our free time he was a bit of a comic.

We spent a lot of our time watching the people, identifying our 'marks', checking to see how many shops they were frequenting and gauging the amount of money they had access to, by the amount of shopping bags they were carrying. The more bags they had the more chance they were reaching the limit of their allowance. Or the 'window shoppers' they had no money but liked to look .

I was scanning up and down the streets looking around while at the same time keeping an eye out for Riley incase he'd found a prospect. I always recited the 'rules' according to Peter in my mind so I didn't forget anything.

I looked up again to see Riley wiping his forehand and knew he had found my 'goose'.

I chuckled to myself.

I followed his line of sight and quickly identified the 'mark'. I ran my hand through my hair to signal I was in sync with him and crossed the street quickly, getting myself into position. My body was beginning to react like it always did before the big 'job', the muscles in the pit of my stomach tightened and I had to swallow the bile rising in my throat. The other jobs were a quick in and out but this type of job had more interaction with the 'mark' and I think that's what made me so nervous.

I fought off the wave of nausea that rolled over me, and cursed myself. I always did this. Worried about what could go wrong, what happened if I got caught; would they call my parents? I was eighteen now so I guessed they wouldn't.

But I would need someone to bail me out so I would want them to call my parents... UGH I needed to stop worrying about this so much before I gave myself an ulcer.

I looked ahead of me and saw my mark approaching on the right; Riley was about seven people behind her. I put the plan into motion and pulled out my prop. It was a broken cell phone we had found in a dumpster, it didn't matter it was broken; it served its purpose as a ruse. I put the phone to my ear and started talking to my boyfriend 'Steve'.

" I miss you too babe,… I can't wait to see you ,…ya I can make that," I continued to have the same one sided conversation I'd been having for the last two weeks with my pretend boyfriend 'Steve'.

I maneuvered around the oncoming people and lined up my 'mark' while continuing to talk into the phone. "Could you pick up a few things for me? Oh come on Steve it's just a small list please."

I blew out a deep breath and prepared for impact, the woman I was targeting was almost right in front of me, as soon as these next two people passed by it was all on.

"Yep that's it," I said as the first person passed by, "It's the red can, the small one." I glanced up as the second person passed by.

One quick look above the 'mark's' head showed me Riley had moved into position.

"Ok so you've got the list and you can..." I said into the phone as I took another step forward. I was careful not to meet her gaze directly; but I categorized everything in my peripheral vision, the angle of her body, which direction she was looking in and checking to see she wasn't paying any attention to those walking around her.

I shot another covert glance at Riley, checking he was still in position, before I collided with my 'mark'.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed dramatically as I collided with the woman. The impact of our collision sent my cell phone flying along with the contents of her shopping bags and her handbag.

My ass hit the sidewalk hard while she stumbled backwards. She never fell, and the impact shouldn't have knocked me over either but it was all part of the plan.

"Ouch," I said rubbing my arm for added effect. I moved my neck slowly side to side trying to make it look like I had been slightly injured when I was in fact checking to see where Riley was.

He was already in place grabbing up my 'now broken cell phone' and the woman's handbag and a few blouses and bras that had fallen out of one of her shopping bags.

Now that I was trained I saw the precise moment Riley's hand slid into her purse and grabbed her wallet, he slipped it into his pocket before coming over to us.

Luckily for us most people in New York were to busy to stop and help or didn't care . A few looked and paused but most kept walking, stepping around us. People tend to mind their own business and get on with what they are doing.  
"Are you alright ma'am?" Riley addressed the woman first and handed her back her purse and items. Then he turned to me. "Miss, can you stand up? I retrieved your cell phone for you. Are you hurt or injured in any way?" He asked politely as he handed the phone to me.

I thought Riley played the part of the perfect gentleman perfectly.

"I think so, I just hurt my wrist when I fell," I took my cell phone from his out stretched hand and looked at it with a frown. "It looks like I broke my phone," I said looking down at the cracked screen.

"Are you are right?" The 'mark' asked suddenly drawing our attention back to her.

Riley offered his hand to help me up. "Yes I think so. My wrist feels a little sore but it's not broken," I assured her as I took Riley's hand. "Well thank you for your assistance," I said to him before turning toward the woman, "I'm very sorry about that I should have been paying more attention to where I was going."

"Well if you two are both sure you're alright, I'm gonna get going too." Riley said with a kind smile.

"Yes I'm fine thank you," I was about to start walking away when I noticed a man in a suit approaching us.

"Stop right there," he ordered us. I froze on the spot and my heart leapt into my throat. We had never been caught before and I didn't know what I was meant to do. I took a deep breath trying to control my trembling. I looked at Riley, he was more experienced at this so I waited for him to speak.

A thought occurred to me as I looked at the man in the suit, experience living with a policeman for a father had taught me that if a law enforcement officer was going to stop you for a suspected crime he would produce ID and identify himself as an officer of the law.  
This man hadn't.

Riley must have realized the same thing because he took a step toward the man. I recognized it as a subtle act of intimidation.

"Dude, I don't know what the hell your problem is, but this has nothing to do with you so keep walking." He kept his voice calm but I noticed there was a hint of a threat to it. "I have done nothing but offer assistance to two women who accidentally collided into each other on a busy sidewalk. What exactly is your problem? You know this is why people walk by and don't help, cause people like you think there's something sinister going on." Riley took another step toward the man, sizing him up trying to figure out what his angle was and how to get us out this without it turning ugly.

I looked over at the 'mark' who was watching Riley and the suit in confusion. She obviously was as puzzled as Riley and I were as to what this man's intentions were.

I decided to intervene and see if I could help Riley figure out this guy's trip. "Um excuse me sir, I am not sure what you are getting at here but if you are not an officer of the law you can't stop any of us from leaving. Now my wrist is starting to really hurt and I would like to go home and put ice on it, so if you'll excuse me."

"You're not going anywhere," he said to me before turning his attention to the even more confused woman. "Hello Ma'am my name is Chris Pratzz and you are?" He asked holding his hand out to the woman.

"Tina, and I'm confused here, I'm not sure what's going on but I really think this girl needs to go get her arm seen by a doctor, we hit pretty hard when we collided and she took a nasty fall."

"Well that is exactly what these two want you to think, I was following behind and I saw this young man following you, and this young woman looked down at the exact moment you were in front of her. These two are con artists." He said.

I shot a glance at Riley; the look on his face told me he was fast losing his patience with the suit.

"Conned? I'm confused. How precisely was I conned? I was there I know what happened." Tina said.

"You think this was an accident, but this is what these type of people do they stage an 'accident' then sue you with the slip and fall that's how these bums live." Chris said

A part of me was relieved he didn't really know what had happened, but part of me was just fucking insulted at the derogatory use of the word bum and for saying we were 'slip and fall artists'.

"Excuse me, con artist?" I said indignantly, now I knew what his angle was I knew what to do, "I didn't ask her for money. I said I was leaving and I didn't even exchange information with her, so how does one intend to sue when they don't even have the other person's details? I only know her name is Tina because you asked her." I was pissed and I knew the longer we were here the more we could run the risk of getting caught. "So just walk away Chris, you have obviously misread the whole situation."

Riley got ready to act; he had had it with this man. His fingers curled into a fist ready to strike and his arm started to move.

"Hold up ... um… Chris, wasn't it?" Tina suddenly spoke, "I have to say that I agree with… umm, I'm sorry honey," she was now looking at me. "I didn't catch your name dear."

"Lisa," I said with a small smile.

"Lisa," Tina said with such a loving motherly smile.

I was starting to really feel guilty, I had never actually spoken this long to one of my 'marks'; long enough for them to become human, long enough to make me realize that even though our 'marks' were rich, that didn't make them bad people.

"So Chris, while I thank you for your concern I believe you are wrong about these children here. Lisa hasn't asked for money or any information, and this young man was kind enough to just stop and help and you are keeping him here unnecessarily with your unwarranted accusations." She turned toward me, "but I do feel like I should give you something Lisa, for your phone breaking and you did hurt yourself and I'm perfectly fine." Tina finished off with that damn smile again.

It made me feel like pond scum.

Riley seemed to recognize the danger of Tina's word immediately. He had Tina's wallet in his pocket and he needed to get away from her immediately and I needed to prevent her going into handbag to look for it.  
He turned to Tina, "thank you for sticking up for me; I really was just trying to be a good citizen." He said turning on that gentlemanly charm. He turned to Chris and the charm vanished, "Chris I would advise you keep your trap shut about who is a bum or the next time you call someone a name you might get fucked up." He whispered as he leaned forward.

He didn't want Tina to hear his threat.

Riley stepped away, he stared down at his feet and I knew what he was thinking. He needed to leave but he didn't want to go until I was on the move.

I turned my attention to Tina. "No Tina, I can't take your money it was just an accident. I just wasn't paying attention to where I was going," I had to stop her going into her handbag.

"Oh please I insist," she started reaching for her purse.

I reached out and gently placed my hand on hers, "I won't take your money so please don't."

"If you're sure dear?" She said in that motherly tone.

"I am, I'm just going to go home and put some ice on it and it will be as good as new. And my boyfriend will buy me a new phone."

I shot a convert look at Riley and gave him a hint of a wink, he turned to Chris. "Just carry on walking now," he growled loudly.

Chris took a step forward not impressed with Riley's tone and pushed him. Riley reacted in a heartbeat grabbing the suit by the shoulders and threw him up against the wall.

As soon as Tina's attention was diverted I took a step away from her and melted into the crowd.

I walked for a few minutes before I looked back behind me, Relief flooded through me when I saw Riley weaving his way through the crowd. I slowed down giving him a chance to catch up.

"Man that was a close call," I said as he fell into step with me.

"Fuck I reckon, just our luck we cross paths with the fucking nosiest asshole in the city. Come on let's get off the street before anything else happens."

We quickened our step and weaved our way expertly through the crowds. I breathed a sigh of relief when we stepped inside our warehouse and pulled the door shut behind us.

**_Thank you for reading and please Review…_**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's notes : **

**Stephanie Myer owns Twilight ... I own the Cleaner  
**

**I would like to thank everyone who took the time to read my story and reviewed. **

**My wonderful banner made by Tkegl is on my profile, check it out if you haven't yet. **

**As always, I would like to thank my wonderful beta Bellavista88 for everything. Love you. **

**I also would like to thank tropicaltherani for all her help with places in New York (I constantly pester this poor woman) but I am so grateful for the help.**

**This chapter touches lightly on physical abuse of a child, there is no graphic detail but I would like people to be advised.**

**The characters back stories will not be nice but it needs to be told to understand them better.**

**Chapter song: Breaking the law by Judas Priest.  
**

**Chapter 2: **

**BPOV**

"God damn it"…. Riley slammed his fist into the wall again. "I fucked up Pete, stop telling me to calm down. I fucking hesitated and FUCK"! He punched the wall again, harder.

"Riley, please we made it back fine, nothing happened. You're OK, I'm OK, would you please stop before you really hurt yourself"! I said

Ever since we got back to the warehouse Riley had been acting like this and I didn't understand why. Sure we almost got busted, but it wasn't his fault.

"Riley, if anything it was my fault, I froze when that man started to talk to us, the minute I knew he wasn't a cop I should have walked away. You did everything you could, you got us out of there as soon as possible." I said.

"Ha! You just don't fucking get it Bella! When I don't do my job people get hurt. I can't live with that. I …fuck!" He punched the wall again , by this time blood was pouring out of his cuts and down his arm.

"Alright dude, calm the fuck down now," Peter said. "I heard what happened and honestly you handled it fine.. I mean if you had started beating the guy up right there, in the middle of the street, you would have caused a scene. You did the best thing and you made sure to get Bella out first and then yourself." This shit has got to stop Riley you can't continue to blame yourself for everything that goes wrong because of one time!"

Riley snorted .."One time," he laughed again. "No Pete, it wasn't just one time, but you know that."

"Riley," I walked up to him slowly," I'm fine, we got away. We got plenty of cash for the next week. I just don't understand why you're so mad. I mean damn Riley, you would have thought one of us got hurt because of you."

Peter groaned and closed his eyes and I heard a small 'fuck' escape his lips.

"Riley looked at me and shook his head….. "Yeah go ask Mouse about that one," he stormed off.

"What did I say wrong?.. I don't…. ugh!" I hit the back of my head against the wall, "what happened to Mouse? I didn't know , I don't know."

'Clap Clap Clap' I turned around to see Jane clapping her hands at me.

"Way to go Princess, you insensitive bitch!" Jane sneered

"Hey Jane , knock it the fuck off, alright?" Peter said, "she didn't know, how the hell would she."

"Whatever " Jane said.

" I don't understand , what did I say?" I asked, "I was only trying to help." Jane just stood there with an evil glare on her face, shaking her head back and forth with her arms crossed over her chest.

" We use to go down to the subway, every so often," Peter started to speak, " Riley was with Mouse and there were some gang members down there. They…. I don't know, I guess they thought Riley and Mouse were invading their territory, maybe they were just assholes, I'm not sure. Anyway, after Riley and Mouse had taken a couple of wallets and they were leaving, Riley looked over at something and when they were confronted by a couple of the guys from the gang. When the one went after Riley he slammed him into the wall and instead of getting them out of there straight away, he punched him a few times. I guess while he was punching the guy another one stabbed Mouse."

My hand went to my mouth but I couldn't stop the loud gasp that came out.

"He carried him all the way back from the subway, he took it pretty hard. He felt like he'd let Mouse down; he'd let us down. Like Kristy and Joey, it really messed him up ," Peter finished

"Who're Kristy and Joey? And I didn't know, nothing like that happened tonight," I said running my hands through my hair. "I have to go talk to him," I spoke over my shoulder as I walked away from Peter.

-XxXxX-

As I headed to Riley's room I starting thinking about what Charlotte had told me one time. Peter was grabbed by a couple of guys during a pick pocket and Riley plowed them down like they were nothing. Apparently they were still lying on the ground while Riley and Peter ran away.

Riley keeps himself fit; he used to play football, before he ended up on the streets and I guess those skills came in handy in this line of 'work'. He had found an old punching bag and workout bench thrown out by a dumpster one day so he dragged them back to the warehouse.

I stopped when I got to Riley's room knocking on the wall I waited for Riley to look up when he finally did I smiled. "Hey, can I come in?" I asked

"Sure", he moved over from his mattress, patting the sit next to him. I'm not going to lie, I really liked Riley, I mean what wasn't there to like about him? Riley is a strong, good looking guy, he has jet black hair and a six pack to die for. And of course he had his shirt off, God I'd love to run my hands up and down that chest, he was built like a machine

"How's your hand?" I asked while thinking Lame Bella.

He smiled and licked his lips Oh this little cut? It's nothing." He winked.

"Riley, what happened today, it wasn't your fault. Neither one of us knew that guy was around, that he was going to approach us like that.

"But that's just it Bella, I should have known, I am suppose to check out everything; the surroundings, the mark, keep a eye on you, and I didn't even see him. I should have known."

"Riley, how could you have known? No one can predict what someone else is going to do." I tried to comfort him.

"I should have known Bella, when I don't do 'my part' people get hurt, ask Mouse. I mean, come on, why wouldn't they attack him too? He could have died." He whispered the last part.

"Riley, It's not like you left him there alone to get beat up."

I heard Riley take a deep breath, "no not mouse, but I did".

"What ? Riley you are one of the kindest, sweetest guys I've ever met. I can't see you letting anything bad happen to someone you care about."

" I'm not this great guy you think I am Bella. I use to be one of the most selfish bastards you'd ever meet." I could hear the self-hatred in his voice.

"You're not selfish Riley, if you were selfish you would have left me on the streets where you found me, but you didn't you gave me food and brought me here."

"If I was a 'good person' Swan, I would have taken your ass to the bus station and made you go fucking home. That's what a 'good person' would have done." Riley said, while looking towards the broken window instead of me.

"That's not my home Riley, not anymore, I can never go back not after…." I shook my head not finishing.

"Hey," Riley put his finger under my chin and lifted my head up towards him, " I understand Bella, trust me I understand."

"Riley, what happened to you? I mean why did you leave? How did you end up here?" I knew I had no right to ask but he knew my story so I thought maybe he'd share. "Never mind that was rude of me to ask, I'm sorry." I added quickly.

"I never told you why I'm here, did I?" Riley asked.

I was biting on my lower lip, a nervous reaction I picked up when I was little, so I just shook my head .

Riley rubbed his hand over his face and took a deep breath, almost like he was mentally preparing himself to tell me what happened. I have to admit I got a little worried myself, I knew some bad things had happened with Charlotte and Mouse. Jane I assume had a pretty bad life, no one was just that nasty.

"My dad use to smack me around when he drank and my mom, was a good mom when she wasn't popping those damn pills. They'd put her in a comatose state, when she wasn't medicated she didn't let my dad do that shit. But then it got to the point where he was coming home drunk a lot, lost his job and she was getting more depressed and taking pills more often.

"One day he came home and was pretty wasted, more drunk then I had see him in along time, he started spouting off what a loser I was, how I wasn't gonna amount to shit. I said something like whatever dad and he smacked me upside the head.

"I tried to ignore him and I guess that just pissed him off further, cause he kicked the chair out from under me and I jumped up and shoved him away from me pretty hard. I wanted to hurt him you know like he had been hurting me?" I was just so tired of it all Bella, I just wanted it to all stop."

"My dad went flying back into the wall, smashing his head. And it hit me; I was stronger than that piece of shit. He could never hurt or bully me again so I grabbed him by the shirt and told him if he ever laid a hand on me again I would kill him. And I slammed him hard into the wall again to make my point. I stared into his eyes and that's when I saw his fear; my dad knew I was serious."

"My life changed then and I decided I could do what I wanted, since my dad was scared of me now. Fuck, I started staying away from home more often, doing what every I wanted to do."

"Life was finally good for me, it was my last year of high school and I got accepted into the college I wanted to go to on a free scholarship for football. That was until I walked in the door one day, actually excited to share with 'my family' that I was going to college, really that I was getting the fuck out of that house for good."

"I remember how quiet the house seemed, almost too quiet. I mean I could always hear my brother or sister playing some game, or at least the TV was usually on, but that too was quiet. I guess thinking back, that was a good thing it was so quiet, otherwise I don't think I would have heard the sobs coming from the back room. I walked passed my parent's room and saw my mom lying on her side facing away from me. I thought maybe it was her crying, but then I heard the sob again and I could tell it was coming from my sister Kristy's room. I opened the door and I found them lying on the bed together crying, I asked what was wrong, why were they crying…?"

Riley had to stop talking for a bit and catch his breath, tears were streaming down his face. Tears started to fall from my own eyes at the same time, and I reached out and took Riley's hand in mine. He squeezed it tighter and continued.

" Joey said, 'sometimes daddy comes home and he was mad.' "Bella that fucker started to hit them, I swear to god I didn't know he never touched them before, if I had known…. They had some bruises on their backs and bottoms". He stopped again and took a deep breath and wiped a tear from his cheek. My hand, not holding Riley's, wiped away the tears falling from my eyes.

"If I wasn't seeing red, you know thinking clearly, I would have….. I should have just grabbed them and left that house right then but I didn't."

"I remember telling them to lock themselves in Kristy's room and not to come out, no matter what and waited for the mother fucker to come home, when he did I remember just punching and punching on him and blood everywhere.

I wasn't gonna stop, I wouldn't have stopped until he was dead, but someone hit me over the head and I heard my mom screaming. I guess it was her who hit me and called for an ambulance. Sometime later, I don't know when, I was lying with my brother and sister when the cops showed up. I heard them talking, they were coming to arrest me, for beating that piece of shit up." He laughed sardonically.

"I fucking panicked, I didn't know what to do so I told Joey and Kristy I had to go away for awhile but I'd be back and take them away from all of it, before walking out the bedroom door. I couldn't go to jail, so I fucking made a run for it; I ran right out the back door. I knew it would be my word against his and I fucking ran like a coward and left them there in that fucking house. I swear Bella, he was always fine with them, it was always only me I didn't think… I never dreamed he'd hit them."

Riley started crying again and I was crying right along with him, I could think of no words to make it better, so I just put my arms around him and held him tightly. It broke my heart what he went through...he has been on the run for 10 months.

Finally he broke the silence." So you still think I'm wonderful?"

"Riley, you didn't know and yes I still think you're a good guy, that wasn't your fault. You didn't know." I reached up and rubbed my hand across his face, he reached up and took my hand in his. My eyes darted down to our now entwined fingers then looked up at his face.

He slowly looked up from our hands and brushed a piece of hair away from my face.

"Bella," he said staring into my eyes so intensely. "I just don't want to hurt anymore, you know?"

"Yes," I nodded as I took my lower lip into my mouth. I closed my eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. I had never felt more closer to Riley then I did in that moment. I had started to develop feelings for him. I slowly opened my eyes to see Riley had moved closer and was still staring at me but the look in his eyes had changed from sadness to something else I couldn't quite say what.

"Bella, I feel…. I," Riley leant in and I felt his lips brush lightly against mine. Slowly, I felt his mouth moving and he opened more and his tongue lightly darted out and ran across my lower lip. I opened my mouth a little more allowing his tongue inside mine. His arms went around my waist pulling me closer, I put my arms around his neck and our kiss deepened.

-XXXXX-

"I'm just saying it makes more sense when we all go out." Jane was talking to Peter

"Yeah, well not today, Charlotte isn't feeling well and I'm taking her to the free clinic down the street . So two of you can head to the store for the stuff we are out of and two can head out to the streets." Peter said

I could tell by his voice he was a bit on edge and I had to wonder if this had anything to do with the conversation I had over heard.

"Umm, I agree Pete," Mouse said. " We normally don't all split up like this".

Peter took a deep breath, " You know, I don't give a fuck, I never wanted to 'be in charge' I never asked for this shit, Charlotte is my only concern, do what the fuck you want, all of you. Stay fucking here, all go to the store, I DON"T FUCKING CARE. I am taking my girl to the fucking doctors, do what the fuck you want. Come on Charlotte." Peter took Charlotte's hand and pulled her from the room and I heard the door down the hall slam after a few minutes. We all just stood there staring at each other for a few minutes not knowing what to say, then Riley finally spoke.

"What the fuck was that all about?" He asked while moving closer to me and taking my hand into his, squeezing it gentle.

Jane's eye brows rose and a look of disgust crossed her face.

"Apparently everyone in this fucking place has gone crazy." Jane responded looking down at Riley and I holding hands, then glared back up at me.

"Fuck off Jane," Riley said pulling me closer and leaning down and kissing me quickly before putting an arm around my waist.

I didn't know what 'this' was between Riley and me. I knew I had liked the kiss and I liked Riley. Being like this with him gave me butterflies in my stomach and it was something I had never felt before. Not even with my old boyfriend.

"Whatever Riley, if you don't mind the little Princess using you until she runs back home after she's decided she made mommy and daddy suffer enough, then be my fucking guest."

"That's what you think I .. …" Jane interrupted me before I could finish

"It's not what I think, it's what I know, so don't waste your breath with your little 'my mommy and daddy didn't let me do what I wanted to do so I showed them' sob story, Swan. I've seen people like you and it makes me sick. You had a fucking home ,your daddy didn't creep into your bedroom, or use you as a punching bag when he got drunk. Or keep you locked in a fucking closet." Mouse's head snapped up and looked at Jane, he swallowed.

"Jane." Mouse said and grabbed her elbows gently, shaking his head.

"Mouse, I'm sorry. It's just we all been through some fucked up shit and she," Jane pointed at me " She doesn't have a fucking clue what a 'hard life' is. She had everything and threw it away, I hate her. And get the fuck off of me, I'm not a fucking baby, I'm fine."

I noticed after she said that she made no attempted to step away from him. Those two had a very interesting relationship. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I never would have believed it. Jane was visibly upset; a sadness glazed her eyes just for a minute but it was there, I saw it, but then the bitch was back. I couldn't stop the horrible thought that ran through my head at who was locked in a closet. I knew Jane was in tons of foster homes and group homes before she finally ran away but ….. I looked up and the words escaped my mouth before I could stop them.

"Oh my god, Mouse!" My hand flew up to my mouth.

Mouse didn't look at me , Jane glared daggers at me and Riley just whispered "not now Swan."

"You shut up, you shut the fuck up!" Jane came flying at me, but Mouse grabbed her around the waist before she could get to me.

"No Jane," was all Mouse said

Jane looked back into Mouse's eyes.

"I'm sorry Mouse," Jane said sincerely. "Fuck I'm sorry, she just pisses me off and it slipped out, I didn't mean to say that."

I leaned into Riley afraid I would start crying if I looked at Mouse right now. God, maybe Jane was right about me. I mean my mom was a psycho that night but maybe I drove her to it. I mean I was always breaking the rules, mouthing off, getting in trouble. No wonder Jane hated me, they all should . They all had such horrible lives and really mine wasn't shit compared to what they had gone through.

"Okay, now if we are done with 'my life was worse than yours,' let's figure out what we are doing here. Pete's right, we are running low on shit so we can all go to the store around the corner, or you two can head to the Wall street area. At this point I think it would do us all a bit of good to separate, we all need some space away from each other."

"Fine, what the fuck ever, let's go Mouse." Jane said heading out the door. Mouse gave a small smile, "don't be sad for me, Bella." Mouse said and followed Jane through the door.

I looked up at Riley and he shrugged his shoulders, "from what I heard his parents were religious freaks, something about the devil.. I don't know, he doesn't like to talk about it so I don't ask. It makes me sick, but he got away and he seems happy now so we don't bring it up." He leaned down and gave me a chaste kiss on the lips and winked. "Let's go," he said grabbing my hand and we headed out the door .

-XXXXX-

Riley and I had gotten back first, a hour or so later Peter and Charlotte came walking in, Peter said something about Charlotte not feeling well, they were going to their room and not to bother them, just let them know when Mouse and Jane got back. Charlotte didn't open her mouth, but from the look on her face I could tell she had been crying. I wish I knew what was going on with her. I was getting really worried, two thoughts crossed my mind and neither were good.

Shortly after that, Mouse and Jane came flying in the door, the way they came running in I was afraid something bad had happened.

'Where is everyone?" I heard Mouse yelling, " Everyone come here quick!'

"Where's the fucking fire?" Riley came out of his room stretching his arms above his head and again no shirt, he must have just woken up. I couldn't help but stare a bit at his muscles. He saw me, winked and walked over to me, 'hey' he leant down and kissed my nose.

I was still confused as to what was going on between Riley and me but right now it felt good and it felt right so I wasn't going to push him to 'tell me his feelings'.

"So we're here, what's up you two?" He asked looking at Mouse and Jane .

"Where are Peter and Charlotte?" Mouse asked, "they need to be here, they've got to hear this shit. It involves us all."

"I'll go get" Riley said "they went to their room when they got back" .

"What's wrong with Charlotte?" Mouse asked.

"Don't know, they went right to there room when they got back" I answered.

"God, this couldn't have come at a better time, get the fuck out of this nuthouse!" Jane said

"Huh?" I asked.. what the fuck was she going on about?

Riley came back with Peter, but no Charlotte.

"Where's Charlotte?" Mouse asked.

"She doesn't feel good, Christ how many times have I got to say this people? Whatever you've got to say I will pass it on to her".. Peter said .

"It really involves all of us, can't she just come out for …" Peter interrupted him

"We do everything together, you know that I wouldn't make any decisions without her. I will discuss with her what you told me, when she wakes up, alright? Now drop it and tell us what is so important." Peter finished speaking and I could tell his thoughts were focused on what was going on with Charlotte.

"Okay, so Mouse and I were on Wall Street going to and from Broadway to South Street, looking for a 'mark'. Anyways I saw a' friend' from back in the day, and he was telling me about some fucking stuffed shirt who's paying fat ass money for him to push his drugs" ….

"Jane," Peter got ready to interrupt. I knew what he was going to say, we don't mess around with running drugs. That's some dangerous shit, plus after what happened to Trent, Mouse wouldn't dare go around that 'business'.

"Shut up Pete and let me finish. Anyways he was hyped up a little too much from whatever he was supposed to be pushing and let some shit slip about a huge money drop taking place tomorrow night. I mean, we're talking 'fat ass money," the kind of money that could get us all the fuck out of here and get our lives back, you know? There is a huge shipment of drugs coming in so these two guys are meeting up to exchange the money tomorrow." Jane finished

"We scoped out the location where the 'drop off 'is taking place and it couldn't be at a better spot there are so many escape routes it's perfect." Mouse said "I calculated every possible situation and it's virtually impossible to get caught."

"For you maybe but you got your name for a reason, we're not all fucking anorexic here toothpick, and I for one, am not risking my life to only get stuck in some hole just big enough for a rat." Riley said

"That's the beauty of this whole thing! Afterwards we tailed 'spider,' the dude we were talking to that's his name, well street name, and he took us right to the one of the guys involved in the drop off. We were hiding, but we were able to hear the tail end of their conversation; they are meeting up at Da Nico in little Italy, it's perfect; that area is always crowded."

"I don't know, this sounds kind of dangerous guys, I mean they could be carrying guns and it just doesn't seem like something we should even mess with." I spoke up.

"Well some of us want out of this life, Swan. Some of us don't have the option to run back home when we get bored. You know, I'm not even talking to you, as far as I'm concerned you have nothing to fucking do with this," Jane said.

Riley stepped forward, "Bella is a part of this group, Jane, so she has a right to her say in the matter and you will shut the fuck up and listen to her opinion! This shit isn't a joke and you know more than anyone how I want to get the fuck out of here and get back home to Pennsylvania so I can get my little brother and sister out of there. So if we can come up with a plan that is safe, then I am sure everyone in this fucking room will be down with that. But don't fucking tell people they can't voice their concerns cause I can't very well fight the charges against me and get guardianship of them if I'm FUCKING DEAD NOW CAN I JANE?"

"Alright everybody shut up now!" Peter yelled "how much money are we talking, do you have a clue?"

"We heard the one guy say he was told $1 million in $100 unmarked bills."

"Holy shit!" I said out loud, "that's fuck…. that's a lot of money."

"Exactly. That's why I say we come up with a plan and take this money; then we're free, we can all get the fuck out of this warehouse and make a legal life for ourselves. The danger is minimal at best, it's in the middle of the day, on a busy street, they have no idea we know and they sure as hell won't call the cops. It will be so easy! We just need a fool proof plan. So I want to know who's in, then we can go down there and Mouse can show you all the places to escape and we can get a feel for the exact location and surroundings." The excitement was clear in Jane's voice.

"I don't know, that's a lot of fucking money, there's no way they're just going to let us walk out of there alive, day time or not" Peter said

"If we take them by surprise they won't have a time to react, and that's the point; we hit so fast they won't have time to do anything."

"I'm in." We all spun around to see Charlotte standing in between the rooms.

"Charlotte, babe what are you doing up? You should be resting and I don't want you stressing over anything right now. We'll discuss this later."

"Fuck Peter! I'm pregnant not fucking dying! Stop treating me like I'm incapable of doing things."

"Charlotte, I thought we agreed not to tell anyone," Peter spoke only to her.

"No, _you_ didn't want to tell anyone , they knew something was going on Peter, I'd rather they know the truth than worry it's something more serious."

"I'm sorry Charlotte, it's just, fuck, I love you so much and now the baby," walking over to Charlotte, Peter took one hand and rubbed along her cheek while the other rubbed her stomach. "You two mean the world to me and it's my job to take care of you both."

"I love you too, Peter. God I do but, I swear if you continue to baby me like this the whole nine months, I'll end up killing you," she laughed and leaned in to kiss him.

"Now let's hear more about this 'job' and I agree we go check out the location."

-XXXXX-

I couldn't get what I heard out of my mind, Charlotte was pregnant? Oh man, they really did need to get the hell out of this place. I mean, to bring a baby into this world is hard, to bring a baby into this world when you're still a child yourself is even harder. But to bring a baby into this world, with all that _and _being homeless, the odds were all stacked against you.

"Yo zone queen." Riley hipped bumped into me. Thinking of how you're going spend that money? Cause I was thinking of you in some sexy ass lingerie dancing for me, modeling it for me. Me ripping it off of your hot little body," he whispered the last part in my ear.

I laughed shaking my head, "yeah right," I said pushing him off of me, "I was actually thinking about poor Charlotte being pregnant and in this place."

"Hmm, I liked my idea better," he smirked. I reached over and smacked his arm

"Alright get your asses over here we've got to finalize this plan," Peter called,

"so we know where and when, we just have to figure out the how?"

"Everyone knows where they are going to be and we all know our jobs, I really don't see the point of going over all this again." Riley said

"Cause this is important, one person fucks up… any fuck ups, and it's done, over and someone could wind up fucking dead!" Charlotte said

"Such a lady Charlotte" Riley's eyes darkened as he spoke

"Everything is a joke to you Riley, and this is _not_ a joking matter, this is serious! This is the break we've all been waiting for; our one chance to be free of all this." Charlotte spread her arms wide, gesturing to the space around us.

Riley jumped up and smacked the folding table hard " Fuck you Charlotte you think this is a fucking joke to me? Seriously, you think that? I need this; this maybe my only chance to have the money to get my family back. So yeah, I may make a joke here and there but don't you ever fucking tell me this shit isn't serious to me! They are the only ones that matter to me in this fucking world."

Peter jumped up from the table flying in Riley's face.

"Back the fuck off of her now Riley I swear to god!" He shoved Riley hard.

Riley jumped back up and went towards Peter…. I jumped in between them before anyone was hurt.

"Both of you stop , just knock it the fuck off!" I yelled "Everyone is stressing and nervous and yes it's a big deal to," I looked between the two of them "all of us, so let's finish this shit and then we can all go to our rooms and not talk again till the morning….. damn!"

I was pissed and nervous as hell and the last thing my nerves needed right now, was these two butting heads like Neanderthals.

"As much as this pains me to say and I mean really pains me … I have to agree with Princess over there." Jane grimaced as she spoke.

When the hell did I become 'Princess'? I thought rolling my eyes at her.

"Alright, so Mouse showed us all the ways out if the streets aren't an option. There's a back alley directly behind the restaurant with back door entrance to the kitchen, if need be someone can run in there. There are back doors to all of the businesses along there go in any fucking door you can get into .. worry about the owners later. We meet up at St Patrick's old Cathedral." Peter went over the plan again.

"So who's actually grabbing the briefcase? Have we decided?" I asked hoping like hell it wasn't me cause when it came to running, 'two left feet'.

"I think the best choice is Mouse," Charlotte chimed in "I mean he knows all the ins and outs better than the rest of us. Riley and Peter can hold them back long enough to help him get away."

"You mean you don't want your precious Peter in direct line of 'danger'? .. Fuck just say it Charlotte. Mouse is just 'collateral damage' to you! Go ahead and say it you're being selfish no one would blame you.. At least Pete here has the balls to admit it' you are the only one he gives a fuck about".

"Yeah Jane, Peter is the one I care about most of all. But I care about everyone here. I don't want anything to happen to any of us. I was just suggesting Mouse cause he knows these streets like the back of his hand."

" I think Mouse is the best choice too, and I trust him not to take the money and run." Riley backed up Charlotte's suggestion.

"I'll do it" Mouse agreed, Jane's head snapped up and she mouthed 'no'.

"Jane it makes the most sense I'm fast, I can fit through shit 'normal people' can't and I know of spots to hide that no one knows even exist." I'll be fine, I promise." He leant down touching his forehead to hers, she was visibly tense but didn't pull away.

"Alright so that's settled. Let's go over the rest of the plan." Peter controlled the meeting.

-XXXXX-

Riley was hanging out at the corner of Broome and Mulberry while Peter was on the corner of Grand Street, both were perfect spots to watch Da Nico restaurant. Jane was hanging out in front of the restaurant, at a bus stop pretending to be waiting for a bus. While Charlotte and I actually where at the restaurant on the patio. We had a good week so we had enough money to swing for a couple of pops and something small to eat. Charlotte had even used the pay phone earlier to make a reservation to insure we would be able to get a table. Mouse…. I don't have a clue where he was, hiding somewhere, waiting for the signal to swoop in and grab the briefcase. The plan was fool proof.

Every time a man would walk towards us we would look at Jane, waiting for the signal which would show him to be 'the one'. We weren't sure about the other guy he was meeting, but they knew what the two guys they saw talking looked like. For all we knew the one he was meeting could already be here so we had to keep up the appearance of friends just meeting up to eat and hang out. This was New York, so almost every man you saw had a brief case with them.

I glanced up at the big clock on the corner; it was 12:45, the meeting was in fifteen minutes and my nerves were getting the best of me. I really wanted this, after what happened with Tina the other day, I just wanted a new life away from this kind of shit.

We placed our order while sipping slowly on our coke's, chatting away to make everything look 'normal'. Charlotte tapped my leg lightly with her foot and I looked up casually towards Jane. She was rubbing her eyes, which was the signal he was here. I ran my hands through my hair letting her know I saw her signal and took a deep breath.

The man was in an Armani black Pinstriped suit, he had long blond hair pulled back in a hair tie. As he got closer, I could tell his fingers were manicured. Damn, you could tell he was rich. He sat down next to Gucci navy pinstripe suit guy; he was here when we arrived because I remember noticing his suit. Yeah. I look at fashion magazines, shoot me. The blond really made me nervous I don't know why but something about him just sent shivers down my spine. I wanted this over with, the sooner the better.

The waiter came right as Armani sat down, blocking my view of them for a moment as the waiter sat our plates down and then asked if we needed anything else.

"No." We both spoke at the same time and he walked away.

I looked up to see Mouse had come out of hiding and was making his way towards the side of the building. Peter and Riley had also edged closer; they were all getting ready, it was up to me now. I was to cause a distraction by playing 'the clumsy girl' for the last time I hoped.

I got up at the exact moment I saw the waiter coming with a tray full of food and right as he was almost by me, Charlotte yelled

" Hey Lisa!" I spun around to look at her "Hurry up, I got to get going." She said .

"Okay!" I yelled back , spinning around knowing as soon as I did I would be banging right into the waiter. It worked perfectly, as soon as I had spun back to head inside I could see the waiter out of the corner of my eye, so I turned just right, smashing directly into his arm, just as he was right in front of the 'Armani and Gucci's' table. His tray flew out of his hands, sending food flying, which made the 'suits' jump up from their seats immediately to avoid the flying food.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry, I didn't even see you there!" I shouted in pretend shock. The waiter said something like it was okay, but I heard him mumbling under his breath 'clumsy bitch'. He was bent down picking up the food, while apologizing profusely to the men in the suits.

While he was apologizing, I quickly made my way inside the restaurant, my heart was beating a mile and minute and I could hear the yelling outside which let me know Mouse must have grabbed the briefcase. When I got to the restrooms I saw Charlotte getting up from the table with the bill, heading towards the counter and Riley and Peter in front of the patio. I quickly made my way out the exit door.

As I was coming around the side, I saw Mouse running with the briefcase in his hand, down the street, while Peter and Riley were blocking 'the suits' path, giving Mouse time to get away. Jane was up on her feet and making her way towards the back alley. I could no longer see Charlotte so I was assuming she had already started towards the church.

I was turning towards the sidewalk and I saw the blond in the Armani suit heading towards me. "Hey you, come here! I wanna talk to you NOW!" He started to shout and picked up his pace. I quickly picked up my speed, deciding to head towards the alley since going to the sidewalk was no longer an option with Armani there coming towards me. I could hear Peter yelling at him, I was hoping that meant he was distracting him enough to give me time to escape.

I was so scared when I got to the alley, I ducked behind a dumpster and tried to calm my breathing. I know this wasn't what I was supposed to do, but I was panicking. I froze in my spot afraid to move, fuck. I was starting to hyperventilate and I was trying to take deep breaths to calm my breathing .

I heard him before I saw him

" I saw the little bitch turn down this way." I knew it was the blond. I knew I had to get up and run, but I couldn't; I was frozen in fear and I heard the sound of a gun being cocked.

Having a father who used to be a cop, I knew that sound very well. I recognized it from when my dad would 'cock the hammer'. I didn't know what to do; I knew if I tried to run now he would see me and shoot me, but if I stayed here he would for sure find me and shoot me. All of the sudden I felt a hand go over my mouth but I still tried to scream. Oh my God I didn't want to die! I flung my arm back, trying to fight off whoever had grabbed me, when I heard the last voice I thought I ever would.

"Fuck Princess, you can't follow one simple rule, come on!" She grabbed my arm, "stay the fuck down and back up slowly with me now." She whispered taking her hand off my mouth.

I backed up from the dumpster, still crouched down as Jane reached up when we got to a back door and opened it quickly pulling me inside with her.

As soon as the door shut behind us, I looked up at Jane. I still couldn't believe she saved me " Jane thank you…" she interrupted me.

"I haven't saved you yet Princess, now we need to get the fuck out of here and I can't have you slowing me down. We are going to walk out of here then when we get out to the street you run and don't stop, do you understand?" She spoke calmly, "No panicking," I looked up into her face and her eyes actually held a bit of concern in them.

I couldn't speak, so I just nodded my head.

"We are gonna make it out of here! And as long as you listen to me and do what I say, we will make it, I…" that was all Jane got out as we heard the handle on the door we had just walked through start to turn…

"Run Now" Jane mouthed and I turned and ran through the store. I wasn't even paying enough attention to tell you what kind of store we were in; I saw the front door and headed that way. I got out onto the street and headed towards St Patrick's Old Cathedral. I heard Jane scream, "Keep going, RUN!" And I did.

-XXXX-

"Where the fuck are they?" Charlotte asked, she was visible scared. "Did you see? Any of you? Did you see them get away?" She was pacing back and forth on the back stairs of the church.

"When I saw them they were OK Charlotte." I tried to reassure her.

"I didn't see them, Char I grabbed the brief case and took off, I'm sure they are fine." Mouse said, Jane didn't speak.

"Oh god no, I can't …I can't live w …w…wit…without h… hh… him," Charlotte was in tears. She was bending over, her whole body shaking.

"Charlotte," I walked over to her, putting my arms on her shoulders. "I'm sure they just took extra precautions before they came back here, to make sure they weren't followed. Riley wouldn't let anything happen to Peter and Peter has got more reason than anybody to make it back safe." I hugged her tightly, I didn't know what else to say because the truth was; I was scared for them. We had been here at least twenty minutes and I was starting to think the worse.

"Fuck this! We are sitting ducks out here; I say we fucking leave. We don't know if they even are coming!" Jane finally spoke

"Jane," Mouse warned.

"What? I'm just saying what we are all thinking; why stand out here, in broad day light? We don't even know where those two are and I don't want to get caught out here with those suits looking for us."

Uncaring Jane was back, I thought. She did make sense, but she could have worded it better.

"You go," Charlotte said "I'm not leaving, I won't leave here without him."

"I'll stay here with you, Char. You two can go ahead; I'm not leaving her."

"Good, you two idiots stay here and take a …" Jane didn't get a chance to finish her sentence as we heard Riley's voice.

"Hey, fancy meeting you all here." We all looked up to see Riley and Peter heading towards us. Charlotte spun out of my arms and ran straight into Peter's crying even harder.

As they got closer, I noticed Peter had a huge gash on his forehead and the side of Riley's face was swollen.

"What happened?" I asked reaching out and lightly touching Riley's face and looking at Peter.

"Umm, we will talk about this later, let's get out of here and back to the warehouse, okay?" Peter said.

We made our way down the back roads to stay out of sight; I saw Charlotte clinging onto Peter's side still crying. I moved closer to Riley, needing to feel him, I understood how she felt. I didn't want to think about anything happening to Riley, or any one of them. I felt his hand run over my cheek wiping away a tear.

"Hey, you crying over me Swan?" He asked, stopping up for a minute.

I looked up at him and nodded, "I was scared something bad had happened to you."

He took me in his arms and hugged me tightly for a moment then leaned down giving me a chaste kiss. "Come on let's go and when we get back you can show me just how happy you are to see me." I reached out and smacked his arm while smiling through my tears.

"Ouch Swan, don't beat up on the wounded man." Riley joked

Mouse and Jane didn't say a word, but they were so close their elbows were touching and every once in a while they would look at each other.

We got to the warehouse, opened the door and shut it behind us. I had never been so happy to see this warehouse.

**This story is now posted on TWCS also, this is the link: (dot)?sid=2736 You just have to put the actual . in **

**I also just wanted to let everyone know they only give you two choices for what this story is about... I choose Angst and Romance. If I could have, I would have also chosen Crime and Action too. I believe that covers all areas of this story.**

**Thank you for taking the time to read this chapter and please review and let me know what you thought of it. **

**And I promise Edward will be making his appearance very soon. **


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter touches lightly on sexual abuse of a child, there is no graphic detail but I would like people to be advised**

**The characters back stories will not be nice but it needs to be told to understand them better.**

**I want to thank BrennAstotle for being there for me. She deals with my freak outs and stressing over chapters and she lets me bounce ideas off her. She is my Kettle. **

**My wonderful Beta Bellavista88, you're way more then just a beta and you know it.**

_**Disclaimer:**_ **Stephanie Meyers**_** owns Twilight. I own The Cleaner**_

_**Chapter song: Goodbye to Romance by Ozzy Osbourne.  
**_

BPOV

"Tomorrow morning can't come soon enough, I can't wait to get the fuck out of here," Jane was saying.

"I agree with Jane, but I'd like to leave sooner. I don't know about you all but I would love to go to a nice hotel. Take a shower or a bubble bath, and sleep in an actual bed. What do you think Peter?" Charlotte asked.

"Hey, I have one last request," I spoke up for the first time since we got back. "Since everyone is in such a hurry to leave, could we at least go out, maybe, one last time to dinner or is that to much to ask!" I couldn't keep the hurt and anger out of my voice, I had been sitting here for over an hour listening to everyone's plans for leaving and their new lives; what they wanted to do, and I had nothing. I always knew everyone wanted to make a 'clean break' be free of this life, but for some stupid reason, I thought we'd all do it together. I guess I thought we were closer then we were. And I was angry because I had nowhere to go or no one to go to. I noticed everyone had stopped talking and was staring at me.

Riley walked over to me putting his arm around my waist pulling me closer, " I think that's a great idea, Swan. Give us a proper chance to say goodbye before we head out in the morning."

I looked up and smiled at Riley, happy he agreed with me. But, of course that smile was short lived.

"What the fuck is your problem Princess?" Jane sneered

"I don't have a problem _Jane"_, I replied in a icy tone "I just figured we've all been a big part of each others lives, I thought one more night, with us all together, wouldn't _kill_ you." I couldn't figure Jane out; she acted like she hated me, but then today she saved me. She was actually 'nice' to me, calmed me.

"Are you okay"? Riley whispered in my ear.

"Honestly? I don't know, I don't know if I'll ever be 'OK'"… I answered. Truth was I didn't know what I was going to do when I left here tomorrow. Could I go to college? Could I make a living on my own? I had never been on my own; I lived with my parents, ran away and was found by Riley; I lived with and depended on these guys to help me. Plain and simple, I am scared.

"What are you scared about?" Riley asked

Oh shit! Had I said that last part out loud? I bit my bottom lip looking down towards the floor.

"Bella, why are you scared? Is it what happened today? The men that we took the money from?" Riley asked with concern in his voice.

"Umm, yeah that's it.. I guess I'm still just a little shaky after everything that went down today." That seemed like a good excuse, no one needed to know the real reason I was scared. That I was almost selfish enough to wish we could stay here, that I wasn't going to wake up tomorrow and be alone.

"I think that sounds like a great idea Bella. Come on, let's go in my room and see if we can fix ourselves up a bit and then go grab a bite." Charlotte said

"Okay," I replied and started to follow Charlotte out of the room.

When we got to her and Peter's room, she motioned me over to an old couch they had found one day.

"So talk to me Bella, what's _really _wrong with you?

"Nothing, I told you, my nerves are just shot after everything that happened today, and not knowing if the guys were okay or not. What happened in the alley.

I started to bite my bottom lip.

"Yeah, that shit with Jane was crazy, but I'm glad she did that. But you are changing the subject. Talk to me. And stop biting your lip Bella."

In just the 5 months we had been together Charlotte already knew me to well; she knew when I was hiding things or when something was really bothering me.

"Char., please just drop it?" I pleaded

"I just want to help you, when I leave tomorrow I want, no I _need_ to know you are okay, I've got enough to worry about you know." She smiled as she rubbed her belly.

I closed my eyes at her words and I must have closed them just long enough for her to realize that was 'the problem'.

"Is that the problem Bella? That we are leaving, oh honey, if you just tell me where you are going we will stay in contact, I promise."

I laughed a bit, "that's the problem Char, I have no where to go, I don't know what to do!" I felt tears welling in my eyes and blinked to get rid of them.

"I know the feeling," Charlotte said still rubbing her belly, "I would love to tell my mother about this, just climb in her lap and have her tell me it will be alright, but I can't go back either".

"At least you have Peter," I whispered

Charlotte stood up, walked over and grabbed her hair brush that was sitting on a box and started to brush my hair. "You're right Bella, I am lucky to have Peter because without him I don't know what would have happened to me. But what happened that night, I wouldn't wish on anyone. But because of that night, I knew no matter what I had one person who would always be there for me. But he had to give up everything, Bella; ruining his chance at a good life. He should be going to college, he should have a great job in his future, but no, here he is with his pregnant girlfriend running from everything good in his life. So yes, I have Peter but look at the price he has to pay."

"What exactly happened that night Char?" I know I shouldn't ask but all I ever knew was the little bit I had been told. And honestly, if his life was so great I had always wondered what could have happened to make him give everything up for 'love.' I always thought that there had to be another choice. God knows I always thought in my mind that I should have made another choice.

Charlotte stopped brushing my hair for a moment, seeming to be lost in thought, then started to talk as if on autopilot, without emotion.

"Well you know my step dad was always trying to touch me, never 'too obvious' but brushing up against me every chance he got or just happen to be reaching for a cup when I was doing dishes, leaning into me; that kind of stuff. After it started to happen all the time, I told my mom that he was making me feel uncomfortable, but she just blew it off. Told me 'to stop overreacting,' I don't know if she just was just afraid she'd lose yet another husband, I mean, we weren't 'rich' but with Roger's income we did eat and kept the lights on, you know? Or she really thought I was making it up.

"One day at after school, Peter noticed I had been avoiding going home more than before and he asked why, I just blurted it out. I really thought he was going to kill Roger; it was all I could do to stop him from walking out the door right then and there. I stupidly told him I could handle Roger, he was harmless for the most part and easy enough to avoid. We agreed that as soon as we graduated we would get out of Chicago and go to one of the colleges Peter was accepted to. Peter also said he'd talk to his parents and see if maybe I could stay there. They loved him so much, he was sure he could convince them if he explained my situation, which I wasn't too excited about them knowing, but if it got me out of the house I'd go with it. Although I was sure they wouldn't let me, they never liked me, thought I wasn't 'good enough' for their son. White trash is what they called me; I heard them talking about me one time when Peter asked me to run downstairs and get him a pencil, I heard them in the kitchen. Hell, I knew I wasn't good enough for him, but for some reason Peter didn't think that, he saw past the crappy house I lived in, the second hand clothes I wore and just saw me. Charlotte. Plus, I never really told him that I knew they didn't like me; it would've killed him. He loved his parents so much. I had never met a family so close; I ruined everything."

She stopped brushing my hair again and when I looked up she was wiping a tear from her eye.

"Char, couldn't you have gone to the police or told someone at school?" I asked.

"Tell them what Bella? That I had a 'feeling' or he made me uncomfortable? Tons of kids don't get along with their stepparents. I knew what he was doing, but I couldn't prove it and I didn't want to ruin my mother's happiness. I figured I could keep avoiding him 'till I moved out. He never really did anything out right to me."

"You don't have to continue Charlotte, if you don't want to. I'm sorry I asked."

"No, it's alright." she continued

"I was able to avoid him, for the most part. I either hung out at Peter's or he'd be over. On nights we couldn't hang out, I'd eat dinner and go up to my room. It worked, until one night my mom went out with some friends. I went up to my room before she left, did some homework and talked to a couple of friends on the phone. I knew I wouldn't hear from Peter, he had a family party to attend and he wouldn't be back till later. So I just decided to go to sleep. I'm not sure how long I had been asleep but I woke when I heard my door open then close. Roger was in my room. I could smell the alcohol on him, he walked up to my bed and sat down, in the middle, but he didn't speak he just sat there.

I told him to 'get the fuck out' I wanted to sleep and he turned around and stared at me for another minute. I was really nervous but I knew if he was planning to try anything I wouldn't let him touch me without a fight!

All of a sudden, he leaned over me and I went to pushed him away. He put one hand over my mouth and the other grabbed for my pajamas. I grabbed the first thing I could reach, which happened to be my lamp and I smashed it over his head and got out of the house and ran straight to Peter's. I didn't know what else to do, where else to go, you know?

So I turned up on Peter's parent's doorstep and thank god they were home and even more, that Peter was the one who answered the door. Peter took me upstairs and I told him what happened, he promised me, no matter what, I'd never have to go back. He wouldn't let me. He left me upstairs and begged his parents to let me stay there, but of course they refused. I'm sure they didn't believe me.

So Peter being Peter waited until his parents had gone to bed, grabbed all the money he had saved from his dresser and told me we were running away. I tried to talk him out of it, but he said no, we were leaving. If he couldn't protect me here, he would protect me somewhere else. He had promised I would never have to go back and he has kept his word We've been on the run ever since.

So now Bella, I'm going to do for you what Peter did for me; I promise you, you never have to go back and you will never be alone. Come with Peter and I… plus we'll need a babysitter." She laughed.

I didn't know what to say, I was so overcome with emotion myself, from what she had gone through and what she just said I could only nod my head in agreement.

"Now," she said wiping her eyes, "I'm a mess and we have plans tonight, so let's fix our faces and get ready to head out. You gotta look good for Riley you know,." She said with a wink.

"What? What are you talking about Char, Riley?" I asked as I wiped away my own tears.

"Oh come on, Bella. Everyone sees how you two are together lately, when did you two become 'one.'" She nudged me

"There is no 'us' Charlotte, and to be honest, I have no idea what's going on with us, we kissed the other day and ugh! I don't Charlotte, we really haven't talked about it and I don't think it matters anyways, you heard him; the only thing that matters to him in this world is his brother and sister and getting custody of them, I don't fit into that equation."

"But once we get settled in and he gets things straightened out we can find him, Bella. I don't think Riley is going to just let you walk out of his life either. Hey, maybe we can get cell phones before we leave and exchange numbers; we can do that before or after dinner, we can afford it," she said with a giggle. "I mean seriously. I don't want to lose connect with anyone here."

"Even Jane?" I asked with a giggle.

"Even Jane" Charlotte laughed.

I shook my head at her "You ready?"

-XXXXX-

"So what're your plans when you leave tomorrow Mouse?" I asked

"Um," he looked over at Jane

"We're traveling; hitting the road and going where ever the fuck we want," Jane spoke up and looked around the table at each of us, eying everyone with a look of 'I-dare-anyone-to-question-further.'

I was dying to know what was going on with these two, but didn't dare ask. Hell, who was I to question anyone else anyways, when I didn't know what was going on between Riley and I. But I guess it didn't matter, since tomorrow morning he was walking out of my life and heading back to Pennsylvania and I was heading to ...Where the hell was I heading to? I never did ask Charlotte. Oh well, I was heading somewhere with Charlotte and Peter.

"So Princess, you running back home? Have mommy and daddy suffered enough?"

I blew out a deep breath, "I don't know what you think and truly I don't care anymore, but I'm not going back ho…there." I corrected myself

Maybe some time in the near future I would pick up the phone and call my parent's and talk to them. I couldn't imagine going the rest of my life never speaking to them. And after what had happened, I realized I did own them a lot; they were pretty 'good' parents compared to what my friends went through with 'their parents' and I owned them an apology for all the trouble I'd caused them. Although I wasn't taking all of the blame, they had to take some too, but that was an issue for another time... a phone call away.

"Yo! Earth to B…..E….L…L…A! This is becoming a habit with you," Riley said while leaning in and rubbing a hand up and down my arm.

I shook my head and blinked my eyes, coming out of my thoughts, "Sorry."

"I was just wondering where you're going to go?" He asked again, if I didn't know better, I would say he sounded a little nervous.

"Oh, um, I'm going with ..."

"...Bella's coming with us," Charlotte interrupted. "Couldn't very well let her go on her own now could we?" Charlotte gave a pointed look towards Riley.

"Excuse me?" Peter questioned. "When was this decided?"

I could tell by his expression he was, I wouldn't say 'mad,' but generally confused, maybe a little hurt to be finding out with everyone else.

"Peter, I was going to talk to you about it …..later," Charlotte whispered.

I may not have been the smartest person in the world, but it didn't take a genius to see this was a bad idea, going with them.

"Umm Peter , Char, I don't want to cause any problems, I …..listen, I didn't get a chance to tell you earlier….." I didn't get to finish my sentence.

"It would have been nice to discuss it before you brought it up to Bella don't you think?" Peter spoke quietly. "Nothing against you Bella, it's just I kinda of planned on it just being me and Charlotte."

"Listen Peter, Charlotte, I am"…Of course I'm interrupted again.

"Peter!" Charlotte said

"I'm NOT going with you two!" I blurted out loudly, earning the looks from several customers in the diner and a loud snort from Jane.

"WHAT?" Charlotte and Peter both said at the same time.

"I" keeping my voice down low " I was trying to tell you; I have a cousin in Arizona she's a couple years older than me and she had a baby. The dead beat dad kind of ran out on her and I thought I'd head out there. She'd been asking me for months to come out before, well before all that went down with my parents, so I thought I'd get a hold of her and take her up on her offer."

"Bella, you didn't say a word about that earlier and you told me ….Bella, is it because of what just happened?" Charlotte asked

"No, honestly Char, it's just when we were talking I was all emotional and what you said, I just I really want to go and see her and my new cousin."

"Oh yeah, I remember you telling me about her that one night we couldn't sleep and you were all excited, waiting to meet your newest cousin. I remember you told me as soon as you could, you wanted to go there and visit." Riley chimed in

I snapped my head towards Riley, giving him a look like 'what the hell are you talking about' because I was pretty sure I never discussed that with him.

"Uh huh, yeah that one." I said, knowing I didn't sound convincing at all.

Charlotte was still looking at me with disbelief, Peter looked relieved and Jane, well Jane was busting up laughing, until Mouse nudged her.

"Well then, this is really goodbye," Charlotte said with sadness in her voice. "Get over here and hug me!" She jumped up from the table and I came around and hugged her tight. God, I was going to miss her, she had became one of my best friends in these 5 months. But I had to do this.. I understand why Peter didn't want me tagging along; they were going off to start a new life and a new family they didn't need me in the mix. It was time for me to grow up and start my own life by myself.

"So now we really have to get those cell phones, because I am not losing touch with you, and your cousin….what's her name?" She asked

"Beth," I answered

"Well, Beth will just have to learn to share because once this little guy or girl comes he or she is gonna want to meet aunt Bella." Charlotte said as tears fell down her cheeks.

"Oh lord come on you two are making me lose my appetite." Jane said.

I wiped the tears from my eyes "I'm just going to run outside for a minute, I saw a pay phone and I'm just going to call Beth real quick and tell her the good news." I said walking away from the table.

"I walked outside and took a couple of deep breaths, picking up the phone and dialing the last number I thought I would ever call again. The phone rang three times before I heard my mother's voice.

"Hello?"

I didn't answer, I couldn't. As soon as I heard her voice I felt a lump in my throat and then I was crying

"Hello?" She spoke a little louder

"M...Mom?" I whispered.

"Who is this? Hello? I'm about ready to hang up this phone in about 2 seconds."

I cleared my throat to make my voice a little louder, "Mom?"

I heard my mother inhale on the other end then my father's voice, "Renee who the heck is on the phone?"

"Um, wrong number hon." She said to my father, I could tell she had the receiver covered, with her hand by the noise but I could still hear her.

"You have the wrong number." I could hear the _icy_ tone in her voice.

"Mom?" I said loud enough so I knew she heard me

"I said you had the wrong number, no one is here with that name, do not call here again!" And she slammed the phone down on me.

That couldn't have just happened; I looked at the phone in my hand in disbelief. She couldn't have done that, she wouldn't have done that to me. I was her daughter, no matter what happened. Wasn't she worried? Didn't she miss me? She should be relieved to know I was alive. My god was I really that bad of a child that my own mother hated me and didn't want me back? I slumped down the side of the wall, pulling my knees up and laying my forehead on them and just cried. I don't know how long I sat there until I heard Riley.

"Hey, come here," Riley said as he pulled me up by my elbows and engulfed me in a tight hug. "I promise you it will be okay Bella."

I don't know how long I cried. I just cried; I cried for what happened to my life, what it had become, for my mother and what she just did to me. I cried, because for the first time in my life I had no idea what I was going to do. I just cried until there were no more tears left to cry.

"I'm sorry," I looked at Riley's soaked shirt then up in to his eyes. I reached up and wiped my eyes.

"Hey, you don't have any reason to be sorry, hell I bawled like a baby just the other night to you". Just tell me what's going on Bella, and please tell me the truth. Cause I'm pretty sure there is no cousin in Arizona".

"No there really is; family on my dad's side, but I haven't seen them in years. Before my dad became the 'all powerful Mayor' of Forks, we use to go there and visit. It's my dad's sister along with her husband and my cousin Beth who is about 15 years old and last I checked she wasn't pregnant, thank god!"

"But you aren't going there, are you?" He stated as more of a fact than a question.

"No, I haven't spoken to them in a couple of years and they'd call my parent's and… just no" I said quietly

"Maybe that's not such a bad idea Bella. I mean maybe you should think about going home now, or at least calling them. I mean maybe it's been enough time and …."

"Oh my god! You're as bad as Jane, you think this is all a game? I can just go back whenever I want? Like this is all just big joke to me, well jokes on you because I can't go back even if I wanted. My mother doesn't want me back!" I started to cry again.

No, that's not what I meant, Bella and why are you crying? How do you know your mother doesn't want you back? I don't understand what you're talking about." He said clearly confused and taken back by my outburst.

I took a deep breath and tried to compose myself long enough to speak. "I can't do this anymore, I just want to, I don't know," I took another deep breath "I thought maybe I'd talk to them and work things out and come home. My mom answered and told me not to call again and hung up on me, playing it off like it was the wrong number."

After I got done speaking, Riley stared at me for a few moments, before he spoke.

"Come with me?"

"Come with you where?" I looked around

"Come with me to Pennsylvania."

"What? You don't need me there, you will have your brother and sister to deal with and…" He stopped me by putting his finger to my lips. He looked me right in the eyes.

"First I am not gonna get them back right away Bella, I got legal problems to work out. I've got to contact a lawyer and work shit out and maybe I'm selfish but I'd sure like to have someone there, in my corner that I care about and I think cares about me." He said as he leaned down and gave me a kiss. It started out innocent enough but then I don't know if it was from all that has happened the last couple of days or my actual feelings for Riley but I knew I needed more. I opened my mouth and invited his tongue in; deepening the kiss. After a few minutes we broke away and I was breathing heavy, catching my breath.

"So" does that mean yes?" He asked with a smile.

"Riley I … are you sure? I mean, I don't want to be a burden to anyone. I am 18 now, I am not yours or anyone's responsibility. I guess what I'm trying to say is do you really want me to come? I mean what if I get there and things go wrong? I would hate to lose what we had. Because, besides whatever this is, right now between us, I value you as a friend; and you saved me that night and I don't ever want to lose that connection."

"Whoa, Okay first of all. No, I am not asking you to come out of some sense of responsibility, I really don't want you out of my life. And two, don't they always say you should be friends before lovers, or friends first make the best lovers or some shit like that?" He said while laughing. "I don't know what's going happen in the future Bella, shit I don't know what's going to happen next week, there's every chance I could end up in jail over this shit, but I just know I want you with me. That's the one thing I _do_ know, I want to get Joey and Kristy and have you there."

I couldn't stop the damn tears that came "Okay," I whispered

"Just OK?" He mocked back. "Can't I get a hell yes I'd love to come with you Riley and have you do all sort of nasty things to my body?"

I smacked him lightly on the arm. "Thank you"

"No, thank you, I mean it. I am in for a battle and I don't just mean the charges against me. I mean everything and it means a lot that you are going to be there with me".

I leaned in and gave him a light kiss "We should probably head back in, I'm sure everyone is wondering what happened to us."

-XXXX-

Charlotte insisted we all buy cell phones, so we could keep in touch. I thought it was a great idea myself . Even Jane didn't put up a fight, she just picked out the phone she wanted and gave out her number.

"So, umm, what should we do now?" Mouse asked.

I think everyone was ready to go back and start packing up the stuff they wanted to take, but no one wanted to be the one to say it. Plus, I'd like to think everyone was a little sad at it ending, like me.

"I am ready to go back." Jane spoke up

"Charlotte turned towards Jane.

"What?" Jane glared back at Charlotte. "Mouse asked a question; I answered. I mean, come on, we have gone out to eat, we went shopping for phones and exchanged numbers; I think we have appeased little Princess enough for today."

"Jane," Mouse said softly, staring into her eyes for a moment.

"Ugh! Fine whatever, what else would you like to do, _Bella?_" My name sounded like venom on her tongue.

"Oh umm, we can go back if everyone wants to, that's fine with me" I said

"You heard her, lets go." Jane said

"Hey what about a picture?" Charlotte suggested

"Picture?" Peter questioned "picture of what, babe?"

"Of the tree over there Peter." She shook her head, "Us dear, all of us. I believe these cell phones come with camera's in them we will get someone to snap our picture with one of our phones and then that person can send it to the rest of us on our phones."

"Yeah, Okay, who's gonna give their phone to a stranger to take a picture and hope they don't take off with it?" Riley asked while laughing.

" I will," I answered him.

"Really?" Peter said

"Yeah sure, why not? Not everyone is a thief," I laughed. "Lets find someone and do this." I said

"Okay," Peter said as we started to watch for someone to take our picture.

We finally found a nice elderly couple, who after we explained for 10 minutes that yes, it's possible to take a picture with a cell phone, and another 5 explaining how to use it, we had them take the pictures, some goofy and some serious. I noticed every picture Riley was next to me, which I wasn't complaining about. We posed by the Bethesda Fountain, in Central Park; I always loved the name The Angel of Water.

We all took pictures of each other on our phones too. I got a really cute one of Charlotte and Peter. He was standing behind her, with his head on her shoulder and his arms wrapped around her holding on to her stomach. Got one of Jane and Mouse, Mouse smiled Jane, well she didn't frown. Charlotte took one of Riley and I, then we started to take random funny pictures of each other and I swear even Jane was enjoying herself. By the end we were all laughing and just having fun.

We linked arms and walked back to the warehouse for the last time.

-XXXX-

When we rounded the corner, I started to look for 'Harry the Guard,' our nickname for the guy who checked on the warehouse. I wanted to let him know we were heading out tomorrow, so he knew the warehouse would once again be empty. I always did appreciate the fact that he let us stay here. Of course we paid him off but still, he didn't have to let us and I think he kind of enjoyed the company too.

"Whatcha looking for Swan?" Riley asked

"Oh, um Harry, I kind of want to let him know we're leaving and say goodbye."

"You're too sweet," Riley said as he pulled me closer and kissed the tip of my nose.

"Yeah, he should be walking around here anytime, oh well, let's head in and I'll come back down with you in a bit and look for him." Charlotte offered

"You won't be coming down here alone." Peter stated

"What are you waiting for Mouse?" Riley asked while Mouse was pushing at the door

"Nothing the door seems to be stuck; I can't get it opened." Mouse answered back.

"Let me, little boy," Peter said joking while flexing his muscles

"Whatever!" Mouse said

Peter started to push on the door, "What the fuck, it's stuck; I can't get it to budge either".

"Told you," Mouse mumbled.

"Oh for fucks sake! Get out of the way you two little weaklings!" Riley shoved hard and the door flew open. "Lets go, it's open now."

"Show off," Peter mumbled

"Oh babe, you loosened it for him, and you can show off those muscles to me later." Charlotte said as she rubbed Peter's arms.

"HA, yeah that's what happened!" Riley said

"You're both a bunch of…" I didn't get to finish my sentence as I heard Jane and Mouse at the top of the stairs.

"What the fuck! " They said at the same time

"What?" Charlotte, Peter, Riley and I said together, as we flew up the stairs.

We all stood there with our mouths open for a minute.

"Mother fuckers! Fucking thieves." Peter shouted

Apparently, while we were out someone had come in and trashed the place. This kind of stuff happened around here a lot; drug addicts looking for money or for things to steal so they can sell for drugs. We were always lucky we had "Harry" so this kind of shit usually didn't happen to us.

"This is why I'm so glad we are getting out of here tomorrow." Jane said

Riley and Peter turned and started to head back towards the stairs.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"To find out where the fuck the prick who we've been paying off the last year was and if he saw anything." Peter answered annoyed that he had to stop to answer my question.

"He's an old guy Peter, don't give him too much grief you two." Charlotte said

"Sure, sure," Riley said as they headed down the stairs.

We had just started to walk around, looking at all the damage; the folding table was broke in half, the lazy boy we had got at a second hand store was torn apart and all the stuffing was all over the ground. It looked like someone had taken a knife to it and sliced it open.

"Why would they do this? I said pointing at the chair?'

"Uh duh Princess, looking for drugs or money hidden in there? God you're clueless!" Jane sneered at me

"Thank god we split the money up earlier; did everyone have their money on them?" Charlotte asked.

We all nodded our heads yes. That was another 'rule' around here never leave any of our cash when we left. Always take it with you. We continued to walk around the place; everywhere we looked there was destruction our meeting room looked like a tornado had ripped through it.

"Fuck, won't be sleeping here tonight!" Mouse called coming back from the rooms

"Why what's wrong?" Charlotte asked

"They umm, our mattresses or what's left of them are destroyed; torn to shreds." Mouse answered

I couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right here.

"Do they really do this? I mean, this much damage looking for money and drugs it just seems extreme." I asked

"If they are having withdrawals enough, I guess." Charlotte said

"Fucking look around Princess, apparently the answer is yes."

I didn't get a chance to say anything back before Peter and Riley came flying back up the stairs.

"We need to go NOW!" Peter yelled.

"Wait, what, what's wrong Peter?" Charlotte asked

I turned to look at Riley who was as white as a ghost

"Riley?" I asked

He didn't answer at first, he just stared at me with a sheer look of horror on his face..

"Riley, dude you're freaking me out. What's going on?" Mouse asked

"So much fucking blood," he whispered when he finally spoke

"Shut up Riley!" Peter said "Fuck!" Running his hands over his face.

Riley seemed to snap out of his daze …

"It's not like they're gonna miss it man, how the fuck did we miss it at first?" Riley shook his head as if trying to shake a bad memory.

"Alright, I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on, Now!" Charlotte yelled loudly

"Harry, he's downstairs, his body was what was blocking the door."

"What, that makes no sense; what are you talking about?" Jane started heading towards the stairs.

Peter grabbed her arm and shook his head " Don't go down there Jane."

Jane looked deep into Peter's eyes for a moment and then nodded her head, 'okay'.

"If, um, you want us to leave but not see, how are we going to leave here without seeing it?" I asked..

"I'll get a blanket or something to cover him up before you go down; we just need to get the fuck out of here." Peter said, I could hear the nervousness in his voice.

"He's dead?" Riley nodded his head "Why would someone kill him? For drugs? I don't get it?" I know I was sounding whiny and asking too many questions, but this whole thing was making no sense to me and I was scared and confused.

"I don't think that's what whoever was looking for, Bella. He looks like he's been tortured and gutted like a fish. Nobody looking for drugs would have taken the time to do that." Riley said

Charlotte gasped out loud and Mouse swallowed loudly. My hand flew up to my mouth, but a loud sob still escaped.

"Riley!" Peter yelled "Shut up!"

"Um, guys?" We all turned to see Jane standing in the other room towards the corner. She looked as pale as a ghost and visibly shaken up and it takes a lot to scare Jane.

We all ran towards Jane and stopped dead in our tracks as we saw 'Sally' who's body was shattered into a million pieces and her head detached.

Another loud sob escaped my throat; as I was officially freaking out now and scared to death.

"Whhh?" Charlotte was trying to speak but the words wouldn't come out.

Sticking out of the little part they left of 'Sally" was a note with a knife sticking out of it.

_ We want our money you stupid little fucks. You have no idea who you just pissed off! You're all fucking dead!_

We were all silent; no one spoke for a moment, the only sounds were Charlotte and my sobs. I didn't look, but I swear I hurt Jane sniff once or twice too.

**A/N My first cliffhanger.. Yay..lol **

**At the moment TWCS is down, so I can't post update yet : (**

**Please review, I love to hear all your thoughts, and thanks for reading**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey sorry it took me a bit longer to get this chapter out. I was having a hard time writing it exactly how I wanted it. **

**As always I want to thank my over and beyond wonderful Beta for everything she does. **

**A huge thank you for all of you that read and review every chapter. **

**I was so excited to find out on TWCS my story is a featured story, it's on the home page too.. I also got a blue cup. Yay for me.**

**Chapter song: Live and let die by Guns and Roses.  
**

**Without further interruptions I bring you the next chapter…..**

**Chapter 4**

"How did they find us?" I choked out

"What are we going to do?" Charlotte screamed at the same

"I don't know, fuck I don't know… I just know we have to get out of here NOW!" Peter yelled.

"How are we going to get out of here? What if they are just watching and waiting for us!"

"How the hell do I know Jane? Would everyone just shut up and let me think!" Peter said as he slid down the wall…

I watched as Peter rubbed his hands over his face and then moved them into his hair. I could see the white bones of his knuckles standing out against his skin; he was gripping his hair so tightly. "I don't know what to do!" Peter muttered…

From the corner of my eye I saw Charlotte walk over to Peter, kneel down to comfort him and whisper something in his ear.

"Hey I know," Riley spoke up. "There's an old fire escape on the side, we can go down that way it'll take us to the back alley."

"They'd be watching that too, you can see it from the street," Jane said.

"Well I don't hear you coming up with any brilliant plans Jane, so if you've got something please fucking say it now!"

Jane just closed her eyes and shook her head 'no.'

"I'm sorry Jane," Riley said. "Come here." He put his arms out to her for a hug but she pushed him away.

"I'm fucking fine, don't touch me" Jane sneered as she played off wiping her eyes with her arm.

"I know a way out," Mouse spoke up.

"You do?" I said quickly. I had all but giving up hope of getting out of this alive.

"Umm yeah, I do but….." Peter jumped up from his spot and spoke.

"You know how to get us out of here and you just sat here? What the fuck were you waiting for Mouse!"

"Back off Peter!" Jane shouted. "He is speaking up now which is more then you, bitch boy crying in the corner."

"Um guys, can we stop right now?" Riley spoke up. "We've got company," Riley spoke as he was peeking out of the window.

We all walked towards the window and looked out.

"I saw two by the front door, two by the fire escape and two more just took off around the cor…"

He didn't get to finish his sentence as we all heard a loud boom from downstairs, it was the front door being kicked open.

"What do we do?" I whispered as tears fell down my face. "Mouse?"

Mouse motioned with his hand to come with him and we all took off.

'He pushed aside a large stand to reveal a hidden crawl space. As he opened it I could see it was full of cobwebs and I could hear noises of some sort of animal.

"I can't." Mouthed Charlotte crying and shaking her head, "I'm claustrophobic, don't make me Peter.. "

"_Come out, come out where ever you are._" We heard their voices and it sounded like they were in the main room.

"Fuck this. Char, I love you girl but I've lived through too much shit to die now. I'm outta here." Jane slid down into the crawl space behind Mouse. "Whoever is coming do it now and last one in shut the lid."

I looked at Charlotte who was begging Peter not to make her and back to Riley. I didn't know what to do.

"_Where the fuck are they? You go that way, you know they couldn't have left." _

That was the blond, Mr. Armani Suit from the Da Nico's restaurant, the one who came after me in the alley. I would always remember that voice.

"Peter let's just give them the money maybe they will go away, please I can't do it." Charlotte pleaded..

"I've gotta go Bella, we've got to go, come on." Riley reached out and grabbed my hand, pulling me down into the dark hole. I could feel the cobwebs rubbing all over my face. I let out a bit of a squeak but quickly put my hand over my mouth as I felt a huge spider in my hair. I bit down hard onto my hand to stop the scream that was threatening to come out and ran my hands through my hair quickly to get it out.

I poked my head out and looked at Peter and Charlotte. "Char, Peter come with us, please."

"Charlotte, look at me," Peter spoke in a commanding voice "If we don't leave they will kill us."

"Bella come on." Riley was pulling me to continue to climb further into the black hole

"I can't, I can't leave her Riley" I started climbing back out.

That's when I heard their voices again and they were closer

"_I'll take two rooms , you go that way."_

"Charlotte," I spoke calmly. "Listen honey, we will put you in the middle between us, we won't let anything happen to you Char, I promise but we've got to go now, think of your baby Charlotte. You can't let them get you, they could hurt the baby."

I know it wasn't 'nice' to throw the baby in there but I was desperate.

Charlotte was crying but shook her head , 'Okay.' She took our hands and started down the hole with us.

Peter climbed down about a step ,then turned around to pull the trap door shut….

"_I've found them in here" _

I heard a voice I didn't recognize, before I had too much time to think about it I heard a gunshot…then another and another… I jumped and yelped almost falling off the 'ladder'.

The trapped door slammed shut and I heard Peter cry out in pain.

"GO GO GO!" I heard Peter yelling. "I... I... can't hold the door... ow! Fuck, much longer."

Between Charlotte screaming and the shooting at the trap door from above and all of the cobwebs I don't know how I didn't pass out, but I kept climbing down the ladder to god knows what..

I heard Mouse a moment later, telling me to keep going down with the others until the ladder stopped, then tell Jane to make a right and stay low on our bellies, he was going to check on Peter. I could feel him climbing up past me.

"Riley," I yelled out, scared I had lost them in the dark; I couldn't see my hand in front of my face, this made it worse but then a part of me was grateful I couldn't see what kind of things were in here with me.

I vaguely heard Mouse telling Peter and Charlotte to 'come on we could lose them in the tunnels' before I reached the bottom of the ladder.

"What?" Riley answered he sounded far away but not too far.

"When you reach the end of the ladder tell Jane to turn right and crawl, Mouse said to stay low".

As I got to the bottom of the ladder I felt a hand reach out for me… I jumped back not knowing who it was Damn, it was such a dark and tight space I think I was becoming Claustrophobic

"Riley …. I …. I ….." Reaching out for the hand touching me.

"Spit it out Princess!" I heard Jane say from somewhere ahead of me. "We don't have time for your drama".

"Gunshots, I heard gunshots,"…. I said fast

"What! Who? Riley spoke, he sounded like he was right in front of me.

"I don't know, I was climbing down and I heard a gun shot….. a couple of them, then Peter yelled out in pain , and I just ….Mouse came by and I came down here".

"You left them alone?" Jane yelled

"I …I didn't …." I was interrupted by the sounds of feet coming quickly down the ladder

"You guys down here?" I heard Mouse's voice.

"Yes," I spoke quietly. "Where's Peter?"

"Right here." I heard Charlotte's voice "His been shot, I don't know how bad but … we need to get him out of here."

"Umm guys we need to go now," Mouse commanded. " They are right behind me and if we have any chance of losing them now we have to go!"

As Mouse spoke we heard clanking on the ladder.

We continued to crawl through the dark nasty cobweb filled tunnel, at least I think it was a tunnel, I had to keep stopping to pull cobwebs out of my face and hair.. Mouse was barking out which way to turn every so often to Jane and Riley would continue to reach out and touch me in a reassuring manner.. I could hear small whimpers coming from Peter and I felt so bad for him; crawling through this with a gunshot wound. I closed my eyes and tried to remember happy times, when I was younger with my parents before all the problems started.

"One more turn to the left and we will be at the sewer," Mouse shouted to Jane

"Thank god for that, this shit is fucking disgusting." Jane bitched.

"Are they still behind you Mouse?" Charlotte's voice came out in a scared whisper.

"No, they couldn't fit they had to go back up the ladder."

We made it to the sewer and it was too much, I grabbed Riley's hand and just closed my eyes. I could hear rats or mouse running around, I heard Char's crying, feet slopping in the water beneath our feet. I heard my heart beating in my chest and I felt Riley's hand squeeze mine tighter and then I heard Mouse say 'this one'. I still couldn't open my eyes, I didn't want to see what was around me, I almost preferred the dark tunnel where I couldn't see. I heard the opening of the man hole and heard Riley telling me to open my eyes and climb up .

-XXXXX-

"Next," Peter said as him and Charlotte came out of the bathroom.

After 'a debate' we had decided to check into a seedy motel instead of an expensive one. Well, actually, it was pretty easy choice; no one wanted to walk into a 4 star hotel reeking like sewer water with cobwebs in their hair. I mean yeah, we still had to put our nasty stinky clothes back on but at least our skin and hair was clean.

After the last person took their shower, we all sat around the bed and tried to figure out how they found us in the first place.

"What the fuck does it matter how they found us? They did!" Jane shouted

"I can only figure we didn't lose them, they followed us and waited until we left and ransacked the place looking for the money." Riley said

"Peter, are you alright?" I asked concerned.

"Ya, just fucking grazed me, the others missed."

"No you're not alright and as soon as we get somewhere safe you are getting that looked at." Charlotte said, I could hear the worry in her voice.

"Well, I say we say our goodbyes now and get the fuck out of this city!" Jane said

"That sounds like a good idea to me." Riley said

"I say we give them the money back first. I mean, I know we spent some of it but we can make that back if we all go out once or twice tops." Charlotte suggested.

"I agree with Charlotte," I spoke up

"Me too," Peter said "This shit isn't worth it," he said while looking at his shoulder.

"No way," Jane said "I'd rather take my chances than see them again . I will hop on the next bus and never fucking look back. I need this money , we all need this money. Plus, there is no saying they won't kill us anyways."

"I agree with Jane, Riley said

"Riley?" I questioned

"Sorry Bella, but you're all fucking crazy if you think I'm handing over this money. I fucking risked my ass to steal it. I need this money to get my family back and I can't even believe you'd expect me to give that up." Riley's voice was laced with anger.

"They're gonna kill us, Riley. How are you going to get your family back if you're dead?" Peter shouted…"Look at my arm, they aren't fucking playing around."

"I know that Peter, but what exactly are you planning on doing, walking up to these people and saying, 'sorry, um here's your money back, don't kill us'? Do you really think you are going to fucking walk away? And to be honest, even if they would take it back you'd still be in a world of shit 'cause you aren't getting my share. So good luck with that and have a nice life. You coming Bella?"

I looked at Riley in shock, I couldn't believe he was acting like this; so cold.

"Riley, what is your problem?" I asked

"Nothing is my problem but I told you all this is the only way I can afford to do what I need to do and now you've all decided to just give it back. I mean really, Bella what did you or you, Peter think was going to fucking happen after we stole a million fucking dollars? Did you think they would just chalk it up to bad fucking luck?" He pointed at Peter. "You saw what they did to Harry, and he didn't even steal the money."

"What happened to Harry was horrible, Riley," tears started forming in my eyes " but if we give it back. I think they killed him because he didn't have what they wanted, but we do" I whispered the last part.

Riley spun back around and looked at me. Seriously Bella, I mean seriously are you that stupid and naive? I use to think Jane was too hard on you, but … forget it, I'm leaving with my cut."

"That's what I say, I'm outta here. You coming Mouse?"

Mouse looked at me then shifted his gaze over to Charlotte and Peter.

"I gotta tell em Jane," Mouse spoke quietly

Jane looked up at Mouse. "Fine, tell them, get this stupid idea out of their heads."

"Tell us what Mouse?" I asked I could tell he was nervous.

"The guys who we were after us; I recognized at least two of them as the ones who killed Trent and came after me."

"Are you kidding me! Why didn't you say something earlier?" Peter asked

" I'm sorry alright, I just didn't want to see that scared look on Bella and Charlotte's face anymore….they are already scared enough .. Just please we need to get out of town. It doesn't matter if they get the money back they will kill us. It's all my fault I'm sorry."

"Damn right, you should have told us as soon as we got to the motel but it's not your fault man. We all knew what we were getting into when we agreed to this." Riley said

"No you don't get it; all this, Harry's death, all _this_ is my fault."

"Mouse, stop… ."

"Jane, no I'm telling them everything. That day at the restaurant when I saw that one guy I knew, well knew who he belonged too, I should have called it off, or never been the one going in there to steal the briefcase, but I was sure I could grab it and be out of there before they even recognized me. Guess I'm not as good as I thought. They didn't even have to chase me; they knew where to find me."

"Why didn't you tell us this when we got back to the warehouse?" I questioned

"Cause , fuck, I thought …..I don't know we weren't supposed to be here. Then Bella wanted to go out one last time. I thought I wouldn't need to worry anybody, we were supposed to take the money and leave. We should have been out of town hours ago and I can only say I'm sorry again, but man we have to go. They fucking killed Trent over 40 bucks, you know they're coming after us." Mouse finished

"I feel like a sitting duck here, we need to keep moving. Everyone took a shower, now we've got to go!" Riley said

Peter can't move, I just got the bleeding to stop, he has got to rest. We are staying here tonight." Charlotte said while looking at Peter.

"Well then I guess this is where we say our goodbyes," Mouse spoke quietly "It's too dangerous to stay in one place for to long. Trust me, from experience you've always got to be on your feet and ready to run. And with you pregnant and Peter shot, you really should just get out of town as soon as Peter can move."

"Bye little mama," Jane said. "Goodbye Peter"

"Call us as soon as you are somewhere safe," as Charlotte spoke, tears ran down her cheeks.

Jane just nodded her head

"Umm.. Later, Riley, Princess." Jane said

I walked over and hugged Mouse goodbye and looked at Jane. "Please be careful you two."

"We're getting out of here, you guys are the ones who need to be careful." Jane said as they headed to the door. Jane turned around as she got there. "Hey Prin…..Bella, seriously go home this life isn't for you."

I didn't bother telling her what happened with my mother or saying anything back, I just smiled because, for the first time I really believed Jane was being sincere.

Riley walked to the door and held it open for Jane and Mouse, then closed the door behind them and locked it. He turned to lean back on it.

Peter?" Are you sure you can't move?" Riley asked

"He's not going anywhere!" Charlotte spoke for Peter and pushed him back down when he tried to get back up. "He's hurt!"

I turned to see the pain and worry on Charlotte's face.

"I really don't want to leave you by yourself, with Peter hurt and you pregnant" He ran his hands over his face and let his head fall back to hit the door. "But we , Bella and…."

I interrupted Riley, "I'm not leaving!" I spoke for the first time since I said goodbye to Jane and Mouse.

Riley turned to scowl at me.

"I'm not leaving Char and Pete like this; Peter's hurt and Char's pregnant! What are they going to do if anything happens?"

"What are you going to do if anything happens?" Riley turned the question around on me.

'I don't know," I sighed. My arms tightened around my legs.

Riley pushed off from the door and stalked to the window. He braced one arm on the window frame and bowed his head. I put my head onto my knees and tried to forget everything for a moment.

"I'll keep the first watch while you all get some sleep," Riley announced with a sigh. I moved my head from my knees and looked over at him. Riley turned around and pushed his hands into his jean pockets.

"I'm not leaving any of you here unprotected, and especially not with Peter hurt'

"Thank you," Charlotte muttered from her spot next to Peter on the other bed. Riley's eyes flashed over to her and he nodded once before, turning his attention back to me.

I looked at Riley and gave him a small smile mouthing a 'thank you.' And laid down to try to sleep.

I don't know how long I was asleep when I was woken up by Riley shaking me roughly by the shoulder.

"Get up now," Riley yelled in a loud whisper

"What?" What's going on?" I said rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, still trying to wake up

Riley put his finger up to his mouth pointing towards the front door then pointed towards the bathroom. I tuned my head in that direction and saw Charlotte and Peter waiting over there already. I quickly got up and headed over to them.

"What are we going to do?" I whispered

"Climb out the window," Peter mouthed back.

"How? I mouthed back, pointing at Peter's injured arm

"I'll manage," Peter whispered back.

Riley came running over, he pointed towards Peter then pointed towards the window motioning for Peter to climb out first.

After Peter it was Charlotte's turn.. Riley lifted her up and handed her through the window to Peter. That's when it dawned on me; I looked at the window then back at Riley. He couldn't fit.

"You're next," he whispered. I was getting ready to say something when I heard the commotion from a couple of rooms down. There was a loud bang and screaming.

I turned back to Riley I knew what he was doing and I couldn't let him sacrifice himself for me; for us.

"Riley we'll make you fit. You can squeeze, please don't make me leave you." I started to cry.

"Bella, you need to go. I'll be fine, I promise. I'll find you; go to Time Square, wait an hour tops. But if I don't come, Bella get on a bus. Head to Pennsylvania and I'll come, I promise."

"No! No no no," I cried.

"Bella I've got my phone, I'll call you as soon as I get out of here, okay? But babe, you gotta go. Now. Come on."

Riley picked me up sideways to put me through the window but before he could I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him with all I had. Riley broke the kiss first and winked at me then put me through the window and handed me off to Peter

I looked back at the window and Riley put his hand up. As I got ready to speak I heard the door being kicked in and saw Riley spin around. Charlotte screamed and Peter yelled at us to run.

-XXXXX-

"We have to go back! We have to at least call... something. I can't just stand here not knowing anything," I said as I paced back and forth as we waited at Time Square.

"Bella we can't go back, he said he would meet us here, he will don't worry." Charlotte said

"Don't go back! Don't worry! Are you fucking serious! How can I not worry, you know whatever, I'm gonna call."

"NO! You can't call Bella, if he is running or hiding and they hear his phone go off…."

"Okay, I get it; you're right but I can't wait here I have to go back."

"He told you to stay here and if he didn't come to get on a bus, Bella. He said he would come for you or call when he got a chance." Charlotte said

"Well he risked his life for us and that means something to me, so I'm returning the favor and going to look for him."

"But Bella if they caught him, he's…'

"Don't you finish that sentence, Charlotte! No, I can't hear that. I'm going; I'll keep in touch with the cell phone. Wait here as long as you can in case Riley comes. I understand if you can't wait much longer."

"No, if you are determined to do this, then we will either go with you or I'll go by myself." Peter said

"Peter. no offense but you're hurt; if something was to happen and what with Charlotte being pregnant, you'd just slow me down. I'll be back soon." I took off running not giving them a chance to stop me or argue.

I figured it would be better to stay in the busy areas; blend in with the crowd. As I was walking down the street, I started thinking about everything that had occurred in the last 24 hours. I mean, damn! I know it was stupid to think we could steal a million bucks from someone without them coming after us, but I guess I never really thought about how dangerous they could be. But then again, I did say I didn't think it was a good idea when we were talking about it but I don't know, I...

I was brought out of my thoughts quickly and a scream escaped my mouth as I felt two hands roughly grab my shoulders. I felt a someone's breath on my ear

"_Shut your little trap now little girl, keep walking or I'll gut you right now, and anyone else who tries to help. You know I will, you saw that guy at the warehouse. I don't think you want anyone else killed because of you, do you?"_

My eyes shut momentary, I knew that voice he was 'Armani' guy. My body began to shake and I knew I had to do something and fast. If I let him take me somewhere I knew I would be killed. Thoughts of what Riley had said about Harry flashed through my head and that gave me the strength I needed. I took my elbow the way Peter had shown me and flung it backwards successful knocking the wind of out of him, giving me enough time to quickly spin around and throw my elbow again right into his wind pipe, then I kicked him hard and fast in the groin. As soon as his hands we're on his 'injures' I took off running and didn't look back. Thank you, Peter for all those hours of self defense 101.

I continued to duck and weave in between people on the streets which at this hour wasn't a whole lot; it was both a good and bad thing. Better to get around, harder to not be seen. I slipped into a door frame to catch my breath and to see where 'Armani' was; I could vaguely make out the top of his head and it looked like he was talking to another man. Fuck! Why didn't I listen to Peter? I was starting to panic and I didn't have Jane here to 'calm me down'. I could do this; I had to. I looked around quickly and saw an alley to the right of me I remembered what Mouse had told me about most businesses keeping their back doors unlocked and always looking for more than one escape. I took a deep breath and ran to the alley, as I got about half way down I heard a loud screech.

"You! You there, get out of here; I know what you want girlie and you can't have it!"

I looked up at a very pissed off homeless woman 'guarding' a grocery cart with a very heavy looking bat which she was wielding in the air towards my face.

"Whoa there ma'am, I don't want your stuff. I'm just trying to get out of here. I won't give you any trouble, if you'd just let me pass I'll be on my way."

I had to get out of here; I didn't have time for this but I wasn't looking at getting hit by a bat to do it.

"No you go back the way you came from now, turn around and get out of here before I whack you with my bat and mess that pretty little face up."

And with that I lost it; I was done. I was so tired from lack of sleep, from running. Being scared, being dirty and alone; I was done. She could hit me, kill me I didn't care anymore, fuck 'Armani' could put a bullet in my brain, I couldn't fight anymore. I just started crying.

"What are you crying for little girl? I didn't hit you, yet." She studied my face a little longer, before she spoke again. "You really don't want to steal my treasures?" She said pointing at the high pile of stuff.

"No ma'ma, I don't want what's in your *sniff* cart, unless there are some *sniff* ruby slippers in there." I spoke

"Well they isn't and if there are, they are mine and you can't have them. Now the names Roxy so stop calling me ma'ma and tell old Roxy why you're crying and why you were running like the devil himself was chasing you."

Ma'm …. sorry Roxy, I really don't have time for this, I've got to go my friends are in trouble and I'm in trouble and some really scary men *sniff* are after me and they are gonna kill me if they find me and they might hurt you too just for talking to me so, please, just let me pass and I'll be on my *sniff* on my way." I pleaded

"What's your name?" Roxy asked

I didn't have time for this. I took a deep breath. "It's Lis" I stopped myself. "Bella ." I was so use to using that 'fake' name around strangers it was a habit, but at this point being so close to possibly dying in a god forsaken back alley, lying didn't seem like the right thing to do.

"Lis Bella? Is that French?" Roxy asked

"Ha ha." That actually made me laugh, even though I was still crying. "No Roxy I just normally don't tell me people my real name so I was going to lie but …" I was interrupted by my cell phone ringing. I looked and saw it was Peter calling; I pressed the answer button quickly.

"Hello, listen Peter I can't talk, I'm okay for now but I'm being followed by the man from the restaurant, I'm trying to get away now." I listen to him talk for a moment before I interrupted him." NO! No, don't come here, stay where you are; I'm getting out of here. Have you heard from Riley or Mouse and Jane? "I was quiet as I listened to Peter's answer. "Oh god Peter, where are they? Okay, I have to go and yes I am leaving. I love you too; tell Charlotte I love her too, in case I don't… I gotta go bye Peter." I hung up the phone and turned off the ringer.

" Roxy, listen I really have to go…"

"_There's the little bitch, she's trapped."_

My eyes snapped shut for a moment then I quickly looked at Roxy. "Go please they will kill you and I can't have anyone else get hurt, please just walk away." I whispered to Roxy

"They are the ones after you and your friends, Bella?" Roxy asked

I turned around and saw the men coming closer. "Yes Roxy, now please stop talking to me and just leave. This is *sniff* my fight I don't want you to get hurt, they are gonna kill me and they will kill you. Just start yelling at me and walk away."

"Oh the hell they will! Get behind me Lis Bella. Now!" Roxy yelled while glaring at the two men approaching.

"No Roxy! No no no no you need to …" I didn't get to finish as Roxy grabbed my arm and forcefully put me behind her.

"Get out of the way bum; this has nothing to do with you. This has to do with that little thief behind you. Now move cause I have no problem killing you to get to her, so take this as your last warning. I've wasted too much time already on this bullshit. NOW MOVE!" He yelled

"You stay back or you're gonna be spitting out pieces of my bat for a week, you little piece of shit. I eat boys like you for breakfast, now turn around and get out of my alley and I'm not warning _you_ again!" Roxy sneered

"Roxy," I whispered. "Please don't do this, they may have a gun. I'm not worth it."

"You stop talking like that Lis Bella, they've pissed me off now. I'm in this fight. They can't come in my yard talking shit; they're about to get schooled."

"It's Bella, just call me Bella." For some reason in my impending death I wanted to be called by my name not 'Lis Bella'. Oh my god I was losing my mind. Focus, Bella focus.

"Which one of you little piss ass little boys has the balls to come near me?" Roxy said with a sneer in her voice.

The one I had never seen before spoke up

"Let me deal with this 'thing' and you can have the girl,like you wanted." He sneered while moving towards us.

"Fine, but make it quick," Armani said while looking at his nails. "I have a appointment at 11."

"Oh this is gonna be fun, I haven't got to whip someone's ass in a while, I miss it." Roxy said switching her bat back and forth between her hands very quickly.

"Roxy please," I pleaded one last time. I would rather take our chances running than risk her getting hurt or killed over me.

"Hush Bella, this is a walk in the park. I haven't survived all these years on the street without being tough. Watch and learn."

The man approached and pulled out a knife; my eyes went wide.

"That's all you got little boy, that small little knife?" Roxy laughed.

Then, quickly, he lunged at Roxy and she swung her bat. 'BAM' she made direct contact with his face. He let out a blood curling scream as the bat for sure broke his nose, blood came pouring out immediately.

"Fucking bitch! You broke my nose!"

"I told you not to mess with me, little boy," Roxy said as she charged after him with her bat, hitting him hard across the back of the head.

While she was beating that man to a pulp Armani came towards me

"I'm bored with this shit," He said as he pulled out his gun, pointing it directly at me. I closed my eyes and started to say a little pray when I heard a loud crack. I peeked open my eyes to see Roxy standing behind him. By the way he dropped to his knees, I assume she had cracked him pretty hard on his back of his legs.

"Get out of here now Bella," Roxy screamed to me, without turning around she whispered, "the third door is unlocked, go through it."

"Are you sure? I don't want to leave you here alone."

"Get out of here now, Bella before I take my bat to your backside, get your ass moving," she said, swinging her bat wildly at Armani. I noticed the other man she hit still hadn't gotten up and I didn't know if he was dead or unconscious and I didn't really care. I did as I was told and started to run. When I got to the door I turned one last time and saw Roxy raising her bat to bring another blow to Armani when he pulled the trigger shooting her.

"I let out a scream as I heard Roxy yelling

"You son of a bitch you shot me. Now I'm pissed!" Roxy yelled

I watched as she swung the bat one more time hitting Armani on the left shoulder, but she was too hurt to put much power behind it. That's when I heard the second shot and saw Roxy fall.

I ran though the door and kept running.

-XXXXX-

"This better be fucking important to be calling me right now" I said as I looked down at the naked woman in my bed.

"You work for me; I own you. So when I call you, you better believe it's damn important, Edward. I don't care what or who you are doing at the moment. Get up and get dressed and come to my office now, I have a job for you."

"What's the job"? I asked while looking over at the woman sleeping in my bed. Poor thing, it's a shame to wake her up this early, after the 'work out' I gave her all night. Oh well, she couldn't stay not when I was leaving. But I'm not a prick, I'll sent her off with a smile.

"We can discuss that when you come in, I don't call you in for trivial shit. Now be here in 20 minutes" he said then slammed the phone down.

Fucking prick, it must be important. He was right, he only called me in when it was important and needed immediate attention. I wasn't called 'The Cleaner' for nothing.

**Hope you enjoyed it and there's our Edward. We will be reading more about him next chapter.. *wink*…. **

**Please review love to hear your thoughts.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own Twilight that's all Stephanie Meyer.. I do own The Cleaner though. **

**So sorry this is so late posting, Edward was very hard.. To write.. **

**Thanks again to my wonderful beta Bellavista88. You're very special  
**

**This story is also on TWCS the link is http:/www(dot)thewriterscoffeeshop(dot)com/library/viewstory(dot)php?sid=2736**

**Thanks barburella, for all the help with NY places… And for being my pre-reader.. **

**All the places in New York that my characters go to and mention are actual places in Manhattan NY. In case anyone cared or was curious… **

**If you go to my story on TWCS I have actually pictures of places mentioned in my chapters. **

**Chapter song: Fear by Disturbed  
**

**Chapter 5..**

_EPOV_

After I woke up Miranda and sent her on her way with a smile, I jumped in the shower then put on a pair of black jeans and a grey wife beater shirt. Fuck Aro, he could wait. What was he going to do to me if I wasn't right in his office in 20 minutes? The fucker already took everything that matters to me, what more could he take? Although I couldn't just blame him; if someone hadn't decided to play god one night my life wouldn't be the clusterfuck it was. But I wasn't one to dwell on what should have been, this was my life now and I play the fucking hands I have been dealt. Still, the fact that because of his stupid decision my life was turned around, but not his, he still lives in his fancy ass rich fucking house with his loving wife and his wonderful life.

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts of that selfish bastard and everything he took away from me; of the choice HE made, not me and the scars I bear for it. He took from someone and they took from him. The fucked up thing is I don't even think he has a clue, if he does he plays it off very well and goes on with his merry little life while I became this; a man I don't even know anymore.

Yeah I was one bitter ass mother fucker and I didn't give a shit. Why should I? Everything that ever meant shit to me in this world was taken away because of that selfish bastard and his choice. Aro might be a twisted fuck too, I mean he was the one who 'forced me into this' but he couldn't have done that if the self righteous prick hadn't pulled that shit. I did this for love, well that love turned bitter, after awhile it turned into hatred and now this was the man who was left because of it.

I looked around my place; I would never call it home, it didn't have that feeling of being a home. All I care about is a place to put my fucking head at night, if I had that I was good. Before I pulled the door closed on my apartment, I took a minute to look around it. I was not a materialistic man; I did not care for possessions. None of it really mattered to me. I knew it could all be taken away in the blink of an eye - like everything else in my life. A smile tugged up the corner of my mouth as I looked around. No, I was not a materialistic man, but I could appreciate...the material aspects of life.

The room was boxed in by full length mark less windows, giving me a panoramic view of the city skyline. The rays of the morning sun were beginning to shine through the windows; this by far was my favorite part of the day. My eyes swept over the long crisp gray sofa, the expanse of which had hardly ever been sat on. But it had been fucked on. More than once. A large square gray chaise lounge sofa added symmetry to the room. Or so I was told, by the expensive fucking designer Aro paid to do this shit for me. Right in front of the window sat two gray chairs also, I couldn't tell you if they were comfortable or not, I never sat in the things. I had a gray throw rug and the walls were gray and the floor was black wood. He wasn't happy with my choice of colors, I didn't give a fuck.

Finally I let my eyes settle on the only thing in the room I did care about; my piano. My black, polished grand piano. I didn't play just any piano, I didn't even play a baby grand. For me, it was all about the Grand. The best. The acoustics the large glass box of my apartment afforded me were incredible. I grabbed my Sig Sauer P226, my gun of choice, I never leave the house without it and put it in my holster. With one last look around my apartment I closed the door, squared my shoulders and jogged down the stairs. Yeah I liked gray and black, it fits my personality.

I headed towards the garage to my black Ferrari Enzo, my pride and joy. I loved this car, it was one of the few things in this fucking world I did love. Jumping in my baby I drove to my arsenal, the place all my other weapons were stored. I thought I'd come prepared for the meeting, since I didn't know if I was going to be sent off right away and to where; I wanted my 'toys' with me. Like I said Aro didn't call me unless it was important and no one else could get the job done right.

-XXXXXX-

I walked into the building like I owned the mother fucker; by passing the two security guards holding their clip boards to check off all people coming and going, smirking as I walked by, stupid rent a cops dare one of them to stop and question me. I remember the new guy a couple of months ago stopped me by reaching out and grabbing my arm to get me to 'sign in ' fucker wouldn't be using that arm again. My finger grazed the top of the pommel on my Ka-bar knife, it cut through his skin and bones like butter….

"Edward, you know I have to call when you come in, he gets very upset when you just walk in and ignore all the rules, at least let me call and tell him you are…"

I was done listening to her and bored already. "Save it Sam, don't care," I muttered as I headed into his office. I chuckled to myself as I saw her picking up her phone and frantically calling Aro to tell him I am about ready to go in. I should have let her call, god knows the prick might actually fire her over this, but I couldn't bring myself to give a shit about her or her job. I busted into his office.

"God damn it, Edward. How many times have I told you not to just come busting in my office like this?"

"Save it for someone who is actually scared of you Aro, you are wasting your breath on me." I leaned in closer. "I ...Don't ... Give...A … Fuck," I pronounced every word to emphasize my point. "Now why am I here?" I sat down roughly in one of his expensive chairs, just because I knew it pissed him off. I kicked my legs onto his fine oak desk, putting my shoes on some papers, again just to fucking get a rise out of him. I didn't care, he made me what I am today; taking me out of my world and bringing me into his, turning me into his own personal killer. He had to deal with what he created and the sick thing is I was good at it. All I ever wanted to be was a police officer. Go figure.

"Son, calm down….."

"Don't call me son, I told you that night and every single god damn time since, I am not your son. Your son is fucking dead! That's why I am fucking here."

Aro eyes hardened and he swallowed hard, I could tell his was trying to keep his composure and not lose control. He may have taken me for what he lost but I made it clear all those years ago, I wasn't a replacement like he wanted me to be.. It wasn't like my family was dead and I'm an orphan at age 8.….I was and I am a grown ass man.

"Edward," he said. "Why I trust you completely, we have certain rules that must be followed here and I expect you to follow them. Do I make myself clear?"

"Is this why you brought me here? Because if it is we are fucking done now!" I swear this crazy ass fucking prick really thought I was his son. No matter how many times I tell him I'm not. He was one dangerous mother fucker, I wasn't scared of him but I knew how far to push him too. I once saw him stab a man in the neck with a fork because he spilled a glass of water on him. You got a dude who lost his mind and is crazy on top of dangerous, it makes for a fucked up combination.

"Of course not," he said as he started putting photo's on the table of what looked like a bunch of kids… what the fuck these looked like kids next door, what did he want with them? They were all laughing and smiling playing around in a water fountain that looked like the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. This wasn't the typical person or people I was use to going after. But then again it wasn't my place to question, but still.

"What the fuck do you want with a bunch of kids?" I asked as I scanned each and everyone of their faces. That's when my eyes froze on one person and that was all I could focus on. It was him, the bane of my existence, the one that fucking got away. All this time and this little fucker has been right here living underneath my nose, in my city. I wanted him bad, if for no other reason than to give me my 'perfect record' back. I looked down again at my hand and saw that I had unknowingly crumbled up his picture.

"Looks familiar?" Aro asked with a smirk.. He fucking knew, he was the one that ordered the hit on him three years ago. I wasn't in the mood for his shit today, it was far too early and I was far too pissed off.

"You know he does; now what did he and his little friends do?"

"You know the shipment we get from our supplier?" He asked

"Um, Yeah." I really couldn't imagine what any of this had to do with him. "What about it?" I was getting bored with the 20 questions.

Well he and his little friends were waiting at the drop off spot and stole the brief case from James and his contact."

I think my mouth dropped open. "You are fucking kidding me?" I laughed. "These kids stole a million fucking dollars from James?" This was priceless, Mr. I think I'm so fucking 'tough' got robbed by a bunch of fucking kids. Now I didn't feel so bad not being able to catch that little shit 3 years ago

"I don't find the humor in this son… Edward." He corrected himself quickly. "James recognized your little friend right away, heard he had a good chuckle himself knowing that that boy lived right here in New York, right under your nose."

Well that wiped the smile right off of my face; I didn't find that shit funny at all.

"In my defense he knew we were looking, he hid. He came at James in broad daylight, I guarantee had I seen him, he would be dead."

Aro sighed before he continued; "He couldn't very well shoot the boy and his friends in the middle of the day on a busy street, Edward. They knew he had been staying in a warehouse, so when they weren't there James and the others went looking for the money."

"So" I waved my hands trying to get to what the fuck any of this had to do with me. "You know where he lives, why do you need me?"

"Because when they showed back up at the warehouse, they escaped down a hidden tunnel and took off running through the sewers, we assume."

"Okay so just call all the hotels and motels you have on your pay roll and find out if they are staying in one of." I said

He sighed louder. "If you would stop interrupting me I would tell you," Aro's voice was as cold as ice. "Our contact at Motel 6 called and told us one of the people from our descriptions had checked in and smelled like something that climbed out of the sewer. He watched as six people; three boys and three girls all went into one room. By the time my men had gotten there two had already left and three climbed out the window."

"Okay, so how did you get the pictures and do we know if they are still in the city? When is the last time anyone from the organization saw them?"

"We got the pictures from one of their cell phones and we know at least two were at the bus station, they are being watched. Someone thought they saw two at Time Square, but couldn't be sure. James had a run in with this one." He pointed to a picture of a girl with long brown hair and brown eyes, she had a huge smile on her face and you could tell she was giggling. There was something about her, I couldn't put my finger on it but there was something about this girl that seemed... and that's when my own sister Alice smiling and giggling flashed through my mind.

"_Edward don't talk to me I'm mad at you" _

"_Oh come on Allie, you can't be mad at me". I had been trying for a half hour to get her to forgive me. "I really tried to get out of class on time but the professor kept us over"._

"_Um yes I am, you promised me you would come watch me play ball and this isn't the first time." Her long brown hair flung around as she turned her head to the side._

"_I told you Alice, I couldn't get out of school, it's not my fault my teacher is a prick with a stick shoved up his butt." Alice being 13 was easy to make laugh. I could see the curve of her lip start to twitch as she was trying not to laugh. _

"_You know I can't stand it when you're mad at me Allie, it makes me sad. You're my favorite sister."_

"_I'm your only sister, Eddie." She always says that name when she is upset with me, she knew it bothered me._

"_Okay Allie, you leave me no choice, I'm gonna have to bring out Mr. Gotcha if you don't forgive me." _

"_No , no Edward I forgive you.. It's okay, no Mr. Gotcha._

"_Hmm, I don't think you really do Allie," I said as I grabbed a hold of the sides of her waist and started to tickle her._

"_Oh my god! I do, I do … 'pant' Stop please ... 'snort' I'm gonna pee my pants Edward... Stop!" She said with a huge smile and I had to smile when I heard the giggling come out of her mouth. 'Cause I knew we would be Okay._

"So some homeless woman was beating them off with a bat before James finally shot her twice, but the girl had gotten away." Aro finished up

What? What had he said? I totally missed the whole thing, did he say Russell was dead? "Russell's dead? That girl killed him?" I asked confused

"No Edward, I mean, yes Russell is dead but some homeless woman killed him; he bled to death, internal injuries. James had to get stitches himself. James killed the woman, but not before the girl Lisa or Bella or something James wasn't sure, he said the woman called her some weird name but thought right before she ran she screamed, 'get out of here Bella'."

God why did that memory have to creep into my thoughts now, in front of Aro of all people, I swear he could read my thoughts.

"Something on your mind, son?" Aro asked.

I took a deep breath. "The name is Edward, Marcus was your son and he is fucking dead, Aro."

"Oh I am quite aware Marcus is dead Edward, I'm not as crazy as you'd all like to think. I know exactly why my son is dead and that you are here because of it." Aro looked down at the picture of the brown haired girl then back up at me. "She bares a slight reassembles to your sister Edward, is that what you were thinking about? I know where they all are, would you like me to tell you?"

And the subtle threat comes to play, he knew my weakness, the one reason I didn't dare try to walk away or push too far. The sick fucker kept tabs on my whole family.

"I have no family anymore. I don't give a fuck about any of them or their petty lives." Trying to get off the subject of my Achilles heals. I changed the subject back to why I was here.

"Everyone is spread out all over the place and basically you don't even know if any of them are still here in New York, so I have to round them up and bring them to you? Or do you want me to just get the money and kill them if they haven't spent it already?"

"No, I don't want you to kill them; I want you to bring them to me. I will personally take care of each of them myself! They not only stole my money, but because of them I didn't get the shipment of drugs. This is unacceptable!" He slammed his fist hard on the desk and shoved everything off, then in one shove he pushed his desk over and I had to jump out of the way. "I want them so bad I can taste it. I want them to pay; I want their families to pay! I want them all dead and their families dead! No one fucking steals from Aro Volturi! No One!" He threw himself back into his chair breathing heavily, he took one last deep breath.

"Now Edward, this is all the information we have on them, here is your contact at the police department. He is checking the database as we speak trying to find out their names and where they are from. Our contact in the FBI is out on the field but he will also be contacting you with information on them as soon as he gets back."

Just that fast Aro was back to 'normal', well as normal as he could be.

I walked over to the pile of mess on the floor, gathered up the pictures and the rest of the notes and headed towards the door. As I was getting ready to walk out Aro spoke.

"Oh Edward, since I'm feeling generous at the moment when you find 'the boy' he is all yours; just get my money first."

I smirked. "Thanks." And walked out the door. Shaking my head I still couldn't believe some kids were able to come in there and steal a million dollars in broad daylight from James.

….. speak of the devil and he shall come….

"Jamie," I sneered. I hated this guy we got along like oil and water; we just didn't mix well. I think he hated me as much as I hated him. James saw me as a threat; someone who was going to come in here and inherit what he had worked so hard for; the Volturi empire when Aro kicked the bucket, now that his only son was dead. He saw me as the biggest obstacle standing in his way. I saw James as the slimy piece of shit he was. I couldn't care less what he did to Aro, kill him for all I cared. But I didn't like the guy; from day one something about him just rubbed me the wrong way. I knew one day we would come to blows, it was brewing and I for one welcomed the day I could erase James from this world.

"Lap dog," James sneered back.

I snapped and pinned him up against the wall in a flash smashing the back of his head into a glass mirror which shattered all over him. I pulled out my Ka-bar and put it to his throat. Pushing the knife slightly into his throat knowing it would cut him slightly.

"Do not ever for one second think I will not end your existence in a heart beat!" I said slowly and emphasized each word.

Just then my phone rang; I grabbed it quickly and answered without looking to see who it was.

"What do you have for me?" I answered, still glaring at James while the knife was still pressed into his throat, I knew if I applied just the slightest bit more pressure I would decapitate this fucker.

"Ummmm Mr. Masen"? The scared voice on the other end of the phone said.

"Yeah speaking, I am assuming you have some information from me?" I paused waiting for him to respond. "Okay, fax me the information now." I listened to him ask if he should hold on so I could grab a pen and paper. "I don't take notes, I am not a secretary. Fucking Fax it." Incompetent people is what I worked with.

I click the phone shut and glared into James eyes. "Well James it looks as if you get a reprieve today. I have more important people to take care of." But of course me being the ass I was, I couldn't let it go at just that. "You know those 'kids' you let get away with a million dollars? James, James , James," I snickered. "Letting a girl get away from you?" I tsked. "One does have to wonder what your purpose is here. I guess it's a good thing they have me around." I leaned in closer to his ear. "It's alright James; I'll take care of them and be home in my own bed with Vicky to keep me warm by night fall." I knew that would make him go nuts.

Victoria Marshall, 'the love of his life;' too bad she didn't feel the same way. Well maybe she did, until she met me. It was a year or so after I had been here and I had a lot of anger in me and needed some release, fighting wasn't cutting it so I knew this chick had been liking me for a while now, but I honestly didn't know she was with James. I made it a point to never mess with another man's wife or woman. Anyways, one day, one wall and a huge bite mark on her neck destroyed James' little happy bubble. We already hated each other so that was just an added bonus. I could have told him the truth I didn't know she was with him. But I didn't care; let him think I did it on purpose, it just made it sweeter. She dumped him and thought we were going to be together. Truthfully, I could have possibly seen myself kicking it with her for awhile. I'm not one to fuck and dump, but after I found out she was James' wife I was sickened by her, the nasty cheating tramp; that doesn't sit well in my book. Hence the 'I fucked you to fuck over your husband' idea….So yeah, that added to James' hatred for me.

"I will kill you, Masen, Do you hear me? You are a dead man." James launched at me, tackling me into the wall behind me. Asshole caught me off guard…That doesn't happen often.

I swung my fist and made direct contact with his face and as an added bonus ripped open his stitches, successfully making him bleed like a stuck pig again. I was done; this shit was going to die at my hands right now, when I was interrupted by a loud voice….fuck Aro…..

"Enough," Aro's voice rang through the hall. He looked at me then at James and then his neck, then the cut bleeding from his head along with the opened gash from the broken stitches "Damn it Edward! He is on my payroll, which means he is my employee, which means I own him and he is no good to me dead. Go get that looked at James."

"Yes Jamie, run along. It's time for the big boys to take care of business." I smirked

"Edward," Aro voice laced with a warning tone.

-XXXXXX-

After receiving the fax from our contact at the police department, I had found out quite a bit of information on the kids, at least 5 out of the 6 that is. It appears my little friend called Mouse was actually Ben and that's about all I knew and I found that shit out from contacts on the street. It was as if this boy did not exist, our contact officer Sam Uley had gone through The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. It wasn't a huge surprise when nothing turned up there: it was about a 50/50 chance these parents gave a shit about their kids. Usually 'runaways' were running from something and the parents didn't want them in the first place. I knew he had been on the 'run' for 3 years, he was 13 when he ran and now just 16, but where he came from was still a mystery to me.

Peter Stevenson he was a different story, his parents were desperately searching for their son. They had reward money and posters pictured everywhere looking for their little boy. Must be nice to be missed so much, I don't know if I was even a second thought after my departure.

Charlotte Ramsey was also easy to find out about. Her mother put in a runaway report but wasn't actively searching for her daughter like Peter's parents. Her step father seemed like a real piece of work from the reports I read. I had learned to read people pretty good and I could tell this sick fuck had a lot to hide. I'm guessing he was the reason for Charlotte and Peter running away. Peter had the perfect life so nothing else made sense with him leaving, but for her.

Isabella Swan was another who was fairly easy to find out about. Her father was mayor of a small town in Washington called Forks. Her father had been actively searching for his daughter, he had even put 'missing posters' up and around the Washington area. She had been in and out of trouble throughout school but nothing horrible, so again I had to wonder what would make this girl turn to a life like this. I was able to find a report of an incident one night involving her and her mother and it just so happened to be the night Isabella ran from the house; her mother claimed she was on drugs and attacked her.

Jane Roberts was the 'a typical' runaway; parents died in a car accident when she was 5, no relatives to take her in, apart from an elderly grandmother, but she was in a nursery home so this one was put in foster home after foster home until finally stuck in a group home, in fights constantly. We all know what goes on in those places, so I can imagine why she ran away. She was a tough bitch according to word on the street.

Riley Turner, this one was the easiest; he went off one night and beat the shit out of his father and ran from the police. But being me I knew better, I saw the reports of unexplained bruises on his younger siblings; they just couldn't prove anything, until a couple months ago. This Kristy and Joey had been removed from the home finally, after Joey was taken to the hospital for broken ribs and it looked like the dad was in jail awaiting trial. They were staying with an aunt of the mothers in Texas. The mother had signed off her rights to the children and put herself in rehab. Good luck with that lady.

I faxed the information of the kids and their families to Aro, he could do what he wanted with that when the time came, it wasn't my concern. This 'Mouse' was grinding on my last nerve, I would not let him get away a second time, there had to be some records on him. I know he and this Jane were seen at the bus station, I had to call Alec and Demetri and see if they had picked them up yet. If not I'm sure our contact in the FBI unit would have information on this Ben aka Mouse, there had to be something... Fuck! I couldn't even get a last name on this fucker and that was unacceptable. I don't do unacceptable! I also needed to call and find out what was going on with the two in Time Square and the one they found motel bathroom. I needed to call Caius and Eric to find out about that too.

I ran my hands through my unruly hair in frustration, it wasn't like it would make it any messier. My hair was a wild mess anyways, it had been deemed crazy, sexy bed head or 'looks like just had wild sex hair,' I stopped listening to all of the names. I thought it looked like shit and was the oddest color ever it was the color of a penny, copper colored and my eyes were green - nothing special. but according to the ladies they were to die for eyes. I was 6 foot 2 inches tall and looked good and I knew it. But sometimes I wish someone would have liked me for me not for my looks or size of my dick which, by the way, was big if I do say so myself. Yeah, I was also an arrogant prick along with being a total asshole, but that's me; I make no apologies. I was shoved into this life five years ago, when I was only nineteen. It was all I'd known for five years, it made me the way I was; I accepted that.

I kept my body in good physical shape, too. I worked out six days a week,when I was in town, I used the gym in Aro's office building. I had quit smoking two weeks ago and that just added to my pissed off mood a lot of the time. Not that smoking made me a 'nice guy', but I wasn't ready to kill everyone right off the bat.

I was sitting in my penthouse gathering up all the leads I had in to one big pile. I had already faxed the information on the kids and their families to Aro, with the exception of Rat, or whatever name he went by … Ben that's it. I decided to take a snooze while I wanted for my contacts to call me back. I grabbed my gun taking it out of the holster, laid it on the table and pulled out my wallet. I don't know why, but I pulled out the only photo I kept and looked at it quickly, then putting it back, I laid my head down on my pillow and closed my eyes.

"_Hey Edward, what time is your class in the morning?" Chris asked _

"_Um tomorrow's my early class, so I'm heading home now, why what's up?"_

"_Oh, just a couple of us were going to grab some beers at the bar down the street, wondered if you wanted to come along?" _

"_Dang, I would but I really got to get home and study for this test tomorrow and I promised my parents I'd be home and keep a eye on my sister. They went to some convention and won't be home till late." _

"_Oh well that's too bad.. You're always so busy man, and you were gone a year traveling all over the world, we don't get to see you much."_

"_Tell me about it, it feels like I don't have time to breath anymore, in between classes and my job I feel like I need two of me. But it will all be worth it when I graduate in a couple of years and become a cop." _

"_You got it all planned out don't you? Shoot, I'm not even sure what I want to be when I 'grow up,' Chris laughed._

_I threw my towel at him. "You're a dork."_

"_Ha .. Alright man, I'm outta here maybe next time?" He turned and walked out the door leaving me alone in the changing room._

_I grabbed my bag and headed out the door, walking right into two very large men._

"_Excuse me," I said moving to make my way around them. I had never seen them before and they sure didn't look like they belonged on the school campus._

"_No." _

_And that was the last thing I heard before something hit me on the back of the head and I awoke in a strange room…_

I jolted awake and was visible shaken_ "_Fuck_," _I ran my hands up and down my face and then up to my hair pulling at it in frustration. I was breathing heavily and my heart was beating rapidly. Jumping up from my bed my eyes landed on my old guitar sitting in the corner. Shaking my head I walked into the living room and grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels sitting on the table. I opened the lid and took a huge gulp, fuck a glass and fuck that it was warm… I took deep breaths trying to let the liquor calm my nerves. Why the hell did I dream about that night? I ran my hands through my hair again. That was 5 fucking years ago; I was a different person back then, thinking the world was all puppies and fucking roses. That was the day my life was turned around, that was the night Edward Cullen died and Edward Masen or 'The Cleaner' was born. Damn it, for the first time in two weeks I needed a cigarette and I needed it bad. I also needed something or someone to distract me; get this shit out of my head. I picked up the phone and dialed. It rang twice before she answered.

"Hey baby," she cooed on the other end of the phone. "Miss me already".

"Yeah, I do. Can you come over and bring me a pack of Marlboro reds?"

"Oh Edward, you were doing so good with quitting, you don't want to …."

I interrupted her

"I want a fucking smoke and to fuck, it doesn't have to be you! Either bring them with your fine ass or I will call someone else. It's not a fucking date either, I'm stressed the fuck out, I need to relax and release babe, not a lecture. So if you are cool with that come over, otherwise tell me now and we can hang up and not waste each others time."

"Oh Edward, you're such a romantic, how can I say no to that?"

"Miranda," I sneered my patience was running out and I was two seconds from hanging up on her. I really liked Miranda don't get me wrong she was my number one go to girl, but tonight I was in no mood for her shit.

"Alright baby, I'll be over in 20. Just have to throw on some different clothes and …."

"No!" I interrupted again. "Don't fix your face, don't change your clothes. Make it 10 minutes or forget it." Yeah, I was a asshole I knew it.

"Fine, I'm leaving now, hear me grabbing my keys".

I heard her shaking the keys over the phone and hung up on her. I was pacing around my apartment for 8 minutes; yeah, I was watching the clock, when I heard the tap on the door.

I walked over to the door and flung it opened to see Miranda in tiny pink boy shorts and a black spaghetti string tank top. I grabbed her and pulled her inside the door and pushed her body hard into the door. I attached my lips to her neck kissing my way up to her ear.

"I'm not gonna be gentle baby, but I know you like it rough." I spoke as I ripped her tiny shorts in half to reveal her freshly waxed bare pussy to me.

"Can we at least go... ugh," she moaned as my fingers rubbed around her clit to get her nice and wet. "... Go to the couch ...uhhh ... Edward."

"No," I said as I rammed two fingers inside her

"Oh god" she screamed out " I am not a whore Edward"

I moved my mouth back up to her ear and spoke low and husky, "If you were a whore you wouldn't be here, I don't fuck whores," I said as I bit her ear lobe.

Miranda's hands came down to the button on my jeans and flipped it open, lowering herself to her knees as she pulled them down. Her mouth was on my cock before I could say a word. "Fuck , baby that's it deep throat that shit" Miranda was the only one I knew who could take my whole dick in her mouth. "That's it baby suck it , yeah just like that, fuck yeah."

I pulled her up from the floor and carried her over to the sofa, reached to the end table, grabbed a condom and put it on. I bent her over the arm rest and rammed my dick into her hot wet pussy as hard and fast as I could. I reached around with my left hand and pulled at her nipples through her barely there tank top, while the other hand caressed her pussy. My thumb pushed into her clit rubbing back and forth while two fingers pumped in and out of her.

I leaned into her back and pressed my lips to her ear. "You better come soon, Miranda. I'm not waiting this time." I moved my fingers faster as she let out a loud scream and climaxed all over my two fingers. I stuck my teeth hard into her neck leaving my trade mark 'mark'. I continued to pound into her pussy hard. I wrapped my hands around her long hair and pulled it back hard, exposing more of her neck to me as I felt my own release coming. I licked and sucked where I left my mark.

"Oh, shit!" I yelled as I spilled into the condom. Yep that's right, I always wrap my shit up no matter who it was. I have been with Miranda a long time but still, I wasn't fucking around with all that shit out there. When I die it's going to be a bullet to my body, not a fucking disease.

I rolled us on top of the sofa and looked around for Miranda's purse; I knew I saw it when I opened the front door. Ah, there it is lying on the floor by the door. I got up and strode to the front door naked as a jay bird. I had to smirk; I could feel Miranda's eyes on me as she stood up and started to get dressed. This was one of the reasons I liked this one so much; she got me, she knew when I wanted to fuck and when I didn't want company. Miranda wasn't one of those clingy bitches who called all the time and whined about 'why won't you marry me, why can't we just be a couple'. She knew my job took me all over the place, but she also knew she meant a lot to me. Plus it wasn't always like this, there were many nights I took Miranda out to dinner or the clubs and she spent the night many of those times, too. Like I said, I am not a whore, fucking isn't my only goal in life but I am a man who has needs. But in my line of work a wife and kids or even a steady girlfriend isn't in the cards for me.

Miranda walked over to me with her hands on her very naked hips and glared. I had to smirk again. I had ripped her shorts and she couldn't very well walk out the door like this.

"Go clean up babe and in my room, bottom drawn, I think you left a pair of black sweats a couple of nights ago, if not I'm sure I've got some sweats you can wear home." I swatted her ass hard as she walked away.

As I watched her walk away my phone rang, I quickly walked over to get it.

"Talk to me," I said into the phone. As I was on the phone Miranda walked by and I had to laugh at how big my sweats were on her. She was such a petite little thing with her long blond hair. Miranda was really a beautiful girl, there were only a couple of things I couldn't stand about her. One, she wore too much make up; I hated fucking kissing her when she had her lipstick on or tasted that face shit they put on to cover up whatever. Two, her fake tits, deal with what god gave you. Don't get me wrong they were wonderful but I preferred the real thing. I followed her back to the door, Miranda leaned over grabbed her purse and stood up planting a soft kiss on my lips. She wasn't short but next to me she looked it. She whispered a goodbye and mouthed 'call me' as she walked out the door. I winked as she turned one more time and blew me a kiss.

"Oh, yeah, I got a message I was to call if I saw one of those people yous was lookin' for and um, there's an award, right? Like I'm gonna get paid for this um, right?"

I had to pull the phone away for a minute to see who called me. Mental note to self, start checking the caller ID. "Lombardi's Pizza."

"Who the fuck is this? And what do you have for me, before I talk money?"

"This is Tony, I work at Lombardi's I's seen one of those peoples in the picture you passed out the other day.. Now I can just hang up the phone now and go on about my merry way or yous can talk a bit nicers to me. It's your dime."

My blood boiled and I gripped the phone so tight I heard it cracking in my hand.

"Listen here you fucking little maggot, I don't know who the fuck you think you are, but you better know who I am. I am Edward fucking Masen." I heard the gulp as my name registered in his pea size brain.

"Umm Mr. Mas…. Um Mr. Sir. Um yes "oh shit" I heard him mumble as he tempted to pull the phone away and control his breathing. "I'm so so sorry Mr. Masen Sir.."

"Yeah I'm sure you are sorry, you little maggot, for ever opening your mouth, when I get done with you, you will be sorry you got up out of bed this morning. Don't you ever fucking talk to me like that again or I will rip your tongue out of your throat and feed it to you for breakfast _. Do you understand me Maggot_!" I screamed down into the phone. Where the fuck were those cigarettes Miranda brought me. I looked around the room as I heard '_Tony'_ trying to contain his breathing.

I remembering seeing Miranda's purse by the door, walking over to purse, phone rang stopped reaching for purse to answered phone Miranda left with the pack still in her purse. FUCK!

"Mother fucker! Your luck just went from bad to worse _Maggot!_" I growled in the phone. "Now you got 10 seconds to tell me who you saw and if they are still there before I reach through the phone and choke you to death. Do I make myself clear?"

"Um yeah, I just saws them walk by Mr. Sir, um?"

"You fucking telling me or asking me?" I yelled into the phone as I headed out the door, but I stopped and looked down at myself. I slammed the door shut behind me and walked to the bedroom to grab my clothes. As much as I didn't give a shit about walking around naked, I don't think it would go over well on the streets. I grabbed a black T-Shirt and some black jeans quickly dressing, grabbed my gun off of the dresser and put it in my holster.

I jumped in my baby and took off for Lombardi's Pizza on Spring St. I know I was speeding but I didn't care, I was a man on a mission and I dared a cop to pull me over in the mood I was in. I debated stopping at the store to grab a pack of smokes but decide time was of the most importance, I didn't have time for stops. I was making great time until I got to the corner of Mott and Spring Street. There was a huge accident in front of me and I couldn't go around or back up. "Fuck!" I punched the steering wheel hard, this could not be happening to me. "Fuck, fuck fuck!" I punched even harder, running my hands through my hair roughly, pulling on the tips of it.

-XXXXXX-

Forty five fucking minutes. I was stuck in that traffic jam for forty five fucking long minutes. I pulled into the parking lot of Lombardi's and jumped out of the car clicking the alarm button on my key and took off towards the building. When I walked in the door I scanned the room looking at all the workers, until my eyes locked with one who looked like he had just seen a ghost when I walked in the door.

"Where?" I yelled as I glared right at the mouthy ass boy behind the counter.

"Um," he stuttered and pointed towards the back door leading to the alley.

I walked around the counter glaring at the little maggot who talked shit to me on the phone earlier. I could 'teach ' him a lesson, I could end his miserable life in one blow but I was a man on a mission. As I walked past him, I glared and started to continue on, just my look alone was enough to scare the shit out of him but me being the asshole I was it wasn't enough for me. I turned and rammed him into the a storage shelf, hard. I leaned my face right to his

"Today's your lucky day after all little maggot, because I don't have time to teach you some fucking manners, but if you ever..." I tightened my grip on his shoulders, pulling him towards me only to slam him back harder knocking things down on top of him. "Ever fucking talk to me like that again I will fucking cut your tongue off. If you see me anywhere again, if you so much as fucking look at me, I will fucking cut your eyes out." I slammed him into the shelf one last time. "Do I make myself fucking clear?" He avoided eye contact and with his head down, he nodded.

"Good" I slammed him back as I started to walk away, I got about two steps when I heard the sound of piss splashing on the floor.. 'Fucking pathetic,' I thought shaking my head.

I flung open the door to the back alley and turned my head to the right, I saw nothing, so I quickly flung my head to the left …I wasn't prepared for what was right in front of me ... It almost took me off guard for a split second. Oh this was gonna be too easy, I could already tell. I couldn't make out their face as it was buried in their knees, almost holding themselves in a comforting manner, rocking back and forth. Just then the door that I came out of slammed shut behind me and the figure jumped and yelped at the sudden noise. They turned to look towards the noise and our eyes locked on each other.

**Thanks again for reading and Please review…**

**I would like to recommend a few stories that I am reading they may not be the 'popular stories' but they are really good and deserve to be read too. I really like them a lot.**

'**Trouble maker' by Bellavista229 here's the link http:/www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/s/5946290/1/Troublemaker**

**Replace dot with the actually . You know the drill by now**

**Another awesome story is 'Edward's Clan' by Greenaway: this story is so good, a must read and the author is beyond awesome.. One of the best stories out there**

**http:/www(dot)thewriterscoffeeshop(dot) com library/viewstory(dot)php?sid=766**

**This story is new and needs some readers, it's a good story too: 'It's called The other side of me' by Kriscullen and in collaboration with anthonymasen0620**

**http:/www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/s/6263727/1/The_Other_Side_of_Me**

**Also please no hating on me or Edward for Miranda.. He is not dating anyone; he doesn't even know Bella.. He is NOT a whore who sleeps around; Miranda is someone he is with from time to time. So you can be unhappy about it, but I really don't want to be yelled at for it. They don't even know each other yet. And no one seemed to care when she kissed Riley so …..**


	6. Chapter 6

**Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight , I own The Cleaner and just play with her characters.**

**I am so excited that my story got over 100 reviews the other day. Thank you everyone who has reviewed. (I am thankful for all of you who are reading this too).**

**I was so happy that no one bashed Edward or me over his 'time' with Miranda. I only had a few comments on it and they were all nice. **

**As always, I give out a big thank you to my one of my besties and beta Bellavista88, love you very much.**

**And as always my NY encyclopedia's tropicaltherani and barburella without these two I'd be making names and streets up ..lol Also Barburella for being my awesome Pre- reader.**

**Sorry this took so long to get out but I wanted this chapter just right and then RL came and had other plans for me also.**

**Chapter song: It's been awhile by Staind  
**

**Chapter 6th**

**BPOV**

Oh my god, oh my god. I couldn't believe what had just happened. When Roxy had told me to run and I did I never ever dreamed, oh god I couldn't even believe this was happening. He had killed her because she was protecting me. This poor woman died to save me.

I don't know how long I had been running, but I was running so fast I tripped over something and went falling onto the ground hard, besides a tree next to the Gapstow Bridge. I couldn't make sense of any of this; how my life had gone from bad to worse in a span of 5 months. Was I really that horrible of a person? I got up and looked down my now ripped jeans and the dirt and blood all over my exposed knees and arms. I walked over to the lake, sticking my hands in to wash off what I could. Trying to compose myself I thought about what I should do first. I had to get to the hotel but to be honest, I was lost I had no idea where to go. So I grabbed out my cell phone and quickly scrolled through to Riley's number; after three rings it was picked up.

"I was starting to think that maybe nobody cared about poor Riley here," said the icy voice on the other end .

I was frozen in my spot; who the hell was this? And if they had his phone and answered it I could only think of a few bad things. One Riley was in trouble or two, he was already dead.

I panicked and hung up the phone.. Oh shit, oh shit.. I paced around the park .. Quickly looking back down at the phone scrolling to see my last recent call, praying to god I had dialed the wrong number but knowing I hadn't ..There only so many numbers in my phone plus they said Riley's name. I didn't get a chance to confirm what I already knew as my cell started to ring.

I grabbed the phone looking down it said Riley's number, I put the phone to my ear and I could hear screams being muffled in the background. I couldn't contain the loud sob that escaped through me as I heard the cries of someone who sounded like they were in agonizing pain.

"Now Miss Swan, I don't have the time or the patience for your shit anymore. Your friend Riley here, is a stubborn one. He won't give up where you might be and where our fucking money is. I tend to believe him, I mean really, after his knee caps were busted and his pinky finger removed, I don't think he really knows but my associates here tend to think he is still holding out on us."

I screamed out a loud cry as my hand flew up to my mouth. "Oh my god you sick bastard!" I cried "Leave him alone, I'll give you your money just please" I cried out. "Let him go," I whispered the last part.

"Ms. Swan that is $333,333. That leaves $666,666 and 66 cents. You stole a million dollars from us and we want our million dollars back. So we find ourselves at a stalemate don't we?"

"I …..I…don't know," I whispered.

"You don't know what Isabella?"

I cried harder "Pl…..p….p…please let himmmm gggoooooo". I sobbed.

"Ms. Swan, quit your whining, you were all so tough when you took our money, don't turn into a sniffling little shit now!" I heard a loud crack and a loud scream following it..

"Noooooooooooo" I screamed into the phone "Stop , I'll get get you ttt…the money." I was shaking uncontrollably at this point. I had to save Riley. I moved the phone from my mouth as I threw up whatever was left in my stomach from the night before. I could hear Riley's muffled cries of pain. "Stop hurting him," I said with a shaky voice.

"Enough" he said to someone in the room I was breathing heavy and shaking so hard I collapsed to the ground. "You have one hour, one, not a minute more to get me all the money or Riley will die and your death will not be as 'easy' as his was."

"But but b… I don't know where….."

"That is not my problem, find them and I will contact you in an hour." The phone went dead.

I screamed loud and threw my phone, "Fuck!" I screamed. I had to get my shit together; me falling apart was not going to help Riley.. I needed to call, fuck, my phone; I threw my phone. I ran over to the area I had thrown it and frantically started to look for it. "Where the fuck is it," I yelled through blurry vision. I dropped to my hands and knees crawling around looking for it. "No, I can't lose it," I was yelling out loud to myself. I continued to crawl and finally saw it about a foot away from where I was crawling. Then panic set in. Oh my god, what if I broke it when I threw it .. I quickly grabbed the phone, looking for any type of damage. Quickly I opened it up to hear I had a text coming in. I pressed accept and waiting as the picture uploaded. My eyes grow wide and I heard an ungodly noise, before realizing it was me. On the phone was a picture of Riley all beaten and bloody with a time and date in the background. I jumped and screamed as another text came through, I was almost to scared to look at it but I had to, I had to be brave. I clicked accepted

_Just in case you were worried I lied about_

_Your friend, here is proof, he is alive_

_For now.. Tick tock Miss Swan. You _

_Now have 40 minutes left._

"No!" I yelled into the phone at the message; that can't be right, how did I waste 20 minutes? I grabbed the phone and scrolled to Charlotte's cell phone number and hit dial.

The phone rang for a few minutes before going to voice mail. 'Please leave a message after the…." I hung up and quickly called Peter's cell phone.

"Bella?" Peter asked

"Peter," I started to cry as soon as I heard his voice. Partly from relief; he was okay and just for what was going on. I wiped my eyes and took a deep breath; me falling apart was not going to help Riley.

"Bella, what's wrong? What happened? Where the hell are you?" Peter fired off question after question at me.

"Peter, shut up and listen," I yelled into the phone. "They have Riley they are going to kill him if we don't give the money back in a hour which now is like 30 minutes from now. I need your money now," I said so fast I don't even know if he could make out a word I said.

"What? They have Riley? He isn't dead?" Peter asked

"NO, didn't you fucking hear me? They have him they are torturing him, they want their money!"

"Bella, I would do anything for Riley but how do you know he is really still…" he pause I heard him take a sharp deep breath "alive, still"

Now it was my turn to take a deep breath, explaining all this was wasting time Riley did not have but he didn't understand that. "Because they called me on Riley's phone about 35 minutes ago," I spoke as I ran through Central Park. "They told me I had one hour to get them their money back or Riley was died." A sob came out of my throat as I had a hard time saying the words." They….they …sent a picture of him. Oh god Peter, he was so beaten up and bleeding."

I heard a loud gasp on the other end of the phone. Then a deep breath, I heard Charlotte in the back ground. 'Who is it Peter, is it Bella? Riley?" I heard the phone moving around

"It's Bella, Char," he answered.

"Oh I'm so glad she's okay, let me talk to her" I heard her asking

"No, not now Charlotte. Get dressed we have to go, I'll explain later." I could hear him grabbing things and he told Charlotte to hurry up. "Bella listen, there is a demonstration like protest thing going on today; it's crowded and we are going to meet up there okay. I need you to go to Park Place and Broadway, just two blocks from the World Trade Center site. They are having rallies and protest there today, we can meet them there, it's gonna be crowded and we can blend in with the protesters so they can't grab us."

"Are you ready baby?" I heard Peter ask Charlotte

"Yep, I am," she answered. "Alright Bella, we are leaving now; we should be there in five minutes, don't stop for anything and get right there. We will find you; go right to the middle of the crowd. Don't talk to anyone."

I could hear him breathing heavily in the phone, so I assumed him and Charlotte had started to run.

"Bella, how far are you from there?"

"I don't know; I am at the south end of at 59th Street, leaving Central Park," I said

"Alright you're a little further away than us so walk fast and we will be watching for you, and Bella be careful." He hung up the phone.

I felt a little better knowing those two were okay, though I figured they would be it was nice to know for sure. I quickly grabbed out my cell phone as I continued on my way, I decided to call Mouse's phone instead of Jane's. I pressed call and waited as the phone rang, the phone rang three times before it was finally answered.

"Bella, what's wrong? What happened? Is somebody hurt or died?" Mouse asked quickly

"Why would , how did you know?" I questioned

"Fuck" I heard him mumble in the phone. "I knew when we left last night, you guys weren't safe there. What happened?"

"It's Riley", I broke out in a sob. "They grabbed him."

"Damn it!" He yelled loudly into the phone. "Well you need to get out of the city Bella, now. What about Charlotte and Peter? Are they okay?"

"What? No, I mean yes they are okay, I meeting them now. But no, no I can't leave we are going to save Riley…"

"Bella, you can't save him, he's already dead."

"NO, no no he isn't Mouse. Stop saying that, I heard him, they sent me a picture of him. They are going to kill him if they don't get their money back, that's why I'm calling, you need to come back now, you and Jane meet us at Park Place and Broadway, it's like two blocks from the World Trade Center. I gotta go but I need you to come back." I started to cry again and the words wouldn't come out anymore.

"Bella, we aren't in the city anymore we are in New Jersey, we took the Port Authority bus. We knew we were being watched at the bus station so we jumped in a cab and went to 42nd and 8th Avenue and that's where we caught it. We can't come back right now even if we wanted to, but Bella I'm telling you; Riley is dead, even if he isn't yet, he is dead. They won't let him live, Bella and as soon as you give them the money you are dead too. You keeping a hold of that money is probably the only reason he or any of us are still alive."

"Are you saying, wait you are saying you don't, you won't come back for him?" I asked

"Bella, you are making it seem like we don't care. We do care but I'm telling you we can't save him. Plus Jane and I barely made it out alive ourselves I can't come back and I won't risk Jane's life either. I'm sorry."

The tears had dried up and the scared, sad feeling was replaced by anger. I was so mad I wish I could climb through the phone and strangle Mouse right now.

"You ungrateful selfish bastard! Riley protected you; he looked out for you like a little brother. He looked out for all of us and this is how you repay him, sorry about his luck? You're a real piece of shit Mouse!" I slammed the phone shut.. Angry tears fell from my eyes and I angrily wiped them away. "Asshole!" I screamed in the middle of the street. I looked up finding I was close to Park Place. My phone rang in my hand and I was half tempted to not even answer it but I did. But first I looked at the caller ID, it was Charlotte's cell phone number.

"Hey" I answered moving faster to get to them, I just wanted to have all the money in my hand, plus I pretty scared being out here all by myself.

"Bella, where are you hon? Are you close? I was getting worried

about you."

"Yeah I can see the crowd gathered around right now I'll be there in about 5 minutes tops. They should be calling soon about the money too and I don't want to be alone when I have to tell them" I stopped talking for a minute as the tears started coming again.

"What is it Bella? Could you not get a hold of Jane or Mouse?"

"I did," my voice was barely above a whisper

"I don't get it, did something happened to them, you're scaring me Bella. What is wrong?"

"Mouse …. Mouse said they won't" the sob I was trying to hold in escaped and I had to take a deep breath, and calm myself before I continued. Letting out a deep breath I continued… "they are in New Jersey and they won't come back."

"What? What do you mean they won't come back? Did you explain to them what is going on with Riley what will happen if we don't pay them?"

"Yes Charlotte *sniff* of course I did, I told him everything, the pictures, hearing Riley in pain, what they said to me. I told him everything and he still said no."

"That doesn't make sense honey, what did he say?"

"He said No!" I yelled into the phone…

"Bella he must have given a reason what did he say exactly?"

"Charlotte what does it matter, the end result is he said no."

"Because it doesn't make sense that he just doesn't give a shit, just simply said no." She answered back

"Fine", I cried into the phone. "He said they were being followed, they barely escaped and it ..it wouldn't matter anyways cause..." I held back a sob. "Because Riley was already dead. Are you happy now, that's what he said no."

"Bella, but you told him he wasn't dead yet, not if we get the money back to him. No he just probably didn't understand you. I'll call him and explain it to him."

"No he knows he isn't dead yet, he is saying" I choked back another onset of tears. " He is saying that whether they get the money or not they will kill him and us too when we show up with it." I cried

"Okay honey, it's getting really noisy here someone is speaking and the crowd is getting really rowdy. I am going to hang up and we will watch for you okay?"

"Okay Char…and Char?"

"Yea?" She screamed into the phone..

"I love you!".. I yelled back to her..

"What? Bella I can't hear you honey, but I love you and we will see you in a minute. Peter is going to start coming out a bit towards you.. I hope you hear this.. Bye Bella."

I closed my phone and started heading towards the large crowd gathered for the protest. Just as I was approaching the main crowd my phone rang again, looking down at caller ID I felt a sickness in the pit of my stomach. It was Riley's cell. A lump formed in my throat and I didn't think I could speak, as I went to flip open my phone. Just then I caught sight of Peter coming towards an opening in the mass of people here. I nodded towards the phone that was still ringing and stepped off towards the side because they was no way I was going to be able to hear with all this noise. Walking off to the side away from the crowd but still close enough that I could see Peter who was coming closer while looking back to what I assume was Charlotte, I answered the phone on the third ring.

"Hhhelllo?" I stuttered

"Your time is up Miss Swan, I hope for your sake and your friends here you have our money?"

I knew I had to stall for more time I just wasn't sure how I was going to pull it off being as nervous as I was.

"I've got your money," I spoke fast

"You've got all our money, Miss Swan? 1 million dollars I find that hard to believe."

"Well you'd be surprise what motivation you can have when your friends life is threatened," I sneered. I wasn't sure where the boost of courage came from but I welcomed it. I hated this man, I hated him more than anyone I had every hated in my life.

"Oh Miss Swan, what a hell cat you sound like, had I not seen you cowing in the corner not once but twice I might be a little impressed."

"Where's Riley?" I was not playing his games, not now. I looked up and saw Peter still standing between the crowd and me, still keeping an eye on Charlotte and I both.

"Oh Miss Swan, you disappointment me. I really thought you'd come up with a better lie then that."

"What are you talking about? I do have your money but I want Riley first when we met each other. Somewhere in a public place you got a hour to bring Riley to us or I go start to the cops. I got nothing to lose."

"I take that back Miss Swan I am impressed. You do have some guts don't you threaten me like this."

I could hear the sneer in his voice.. And I was scared shitless but I had to stall, I had to buy time to figure out what to do until we could plead with Jane and Mouse again or somehow come up with their share of the money.

"This is not a threat, I am dead serious. You bring us Riley and you get your money, you don't and I go to the cops and I will fucking burn you money before you see a dime of it!"

"You Miss Swan just signed your friend's death warrant." He hung up on me

My eyes grew as large as saucers and my mouth hung open. "Oh god no no ..." The world felt like it was spinning out of control and I had no idea what to do. No that wasn't supposed to happen but I couldn't just give them the money 'cause we didn't have it all and Mouse said they'd kill him and us anyways. But now he was going to die and it was all my fault anyways. The tears started falling from my eyes. I couldn't think, I couldn't breathe I bent down hands on my knees trying to catch my breathe when I heard a scream.

My head snapped up in the direction of Peter and Charlotte I looked fast enough to see Peter go running into the crowd, I took off after them and was caught in a large smashing and pushing match. Apparently a riot had broke out but I was in such a daze I didn't even notice the commotion until now. I had to get to Peter and Charlotte I tried to push my way through the crowd, I thought I heard Peter yelling Charlotte and my name so I yelled back but there was so much screaming, yelling and pushing.. I couldn't tell so I continued to try and push through the crowd

"Ouch!" I yelled out as an elbow made its way across my cheek. I stepped back quickly, it didn't help that I was still crying so I was looking for my friends with blurry eyes.

"Peter, Charlotte!" I screamed above the crowd jumping up and down and trying to look around people.

Then I heard the sirens come, it was the police. Some people took off running, but the rest continued to push and fight at one another. I quickly made my way from the crowd again and dialed Peter and Charlotte's cell phones only to get both of their answering machines. Not knowing what else to do I quickly dialed Riley's cell phone but it just continued to ring until the machine picked up. My eyes grew wide as the messages was Riley's voice. I could hear him begging for his life, speaking about Kristy and Joey, then he yelled really loud and the phone went dead. I heard another scream and it took me a moment to realize it was coming from me. I started to hyperventilate, I couldn't breathe. Looking around, I saw the police come running towards the crowd so I ran towards them, I don't know how but I was going to make them listen to me and help me, I was done running and trying to do things on my own. Every decision I made ended up being the wrong one, I was over my head and I needed help. Charlie had always drilled in my head the police were my friends not my enemy's so I needed to trust his words. As I walked closer towards the police I thought about what I would say so I didn't ramble on like a lunatic should I just hit play on Riley's machine. Finally I got over to one of the police officers but before I could talk to him he rushed over to break up a fight that had erupted in the corner. This wasn't going to work so I did the only thing I could think of I started to scream.

"HELP!" I yelled " Help me please someone help meeeeeeeeeee!" I yelled again louder "Help me please…help…. He…."

"Miss you need to stop you're screaming and come with us now." An officer said standing in front of me

"Come with you? Where.. No I need help, my friends are gone. I need help please help me," I said as fresh tears fall from my eyes.

"Well ma'ma we are in the middle of a dangerous situation here, I don't have time to fill out a missing persons report but I'm sure your friends are just fine. They problem ran off when the riots started which is what you should have done. Heck you shouldn't even be here but I'll tell you what you go to the police station and make a report there."

"No! Listen to me, I grabbed his arm roughly, you need to fucking listen to me!"

"Um you got about two seconds to let go of my arm miss or I will haul you down to the police station," he said as he yanked his arm away from me

"This is your fucking job to help people, I need help don't walk away from me!" I pushed into his chest.

"That's it; I tried to be nice lady, now you're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent…." He didn't get to finish as we heard a loud crash and a huge fight broke out. The Officer looked between me and the crowd." You're lucky" he said as he took off running towards the crowd.

"Luckily, how the hell am I luckily, Fuck you!" I screamed and took off running down the street. I don't know how long I ran but some how I ended up back at Little Italy area in front of a Lombardi's Pizza. I just started to pace up and down Spring Street, continuing to call Peter and Charlotte and even tried Riley once but hung up once his pleas starting coming through the phone. I was numb and beaten, I couldn't go on anymore I found myself behind in the back alley I don't even remember walking back there. I just slid down the side of the wall tucking my head into my knees wrapping my arms around my legs rocking slowly back and forth and cried. I don't know how long I was like that when I was startle by the slamming of a door. I looked up and into the eyes of a man and he was staring back at me.

EPOV

Ha! This was my lucky day; as soon as I looked at her I knew it was one of them from the photo. I walked over to her in three fast steps, stopping and bending down to be eye level with her.

"You, little girl and your friends have pissed off some very important people and they are going to be so happy to see you. Let's go." I reached out to grab her arm, ready for her to put up a fight but she just sat there and looked at me like she really had no clue what was going on while tears ran down her already tear stained face. Now I was getting pissed. I was behind schedule and had no desire to deal with a traumatized kid. I breathed a heavy sigh and pulled her up by her arms roughly.

"I said let's go now," I snarled, looking at her directly in her dark chocolate eyes. Those fucking eyes, I wanted to rip them out of her head, they reminded me too much of … I couldn't bring myself to say her name. I just needed to call Aro and let him know I had one and have someone come pick her up; I didn't even want to be around her anymore.

I vaguely heard her half whimper half whispers something.

"What? What are you saying?" I sneered at her. Her head fall down by her chin and all her brown hair fall in front of her face, I heard her take a loud deep breath and sniff. She lifted her head back up and I noticed a huge red bruise on the side of her cheek like someone had hit her. Who would have hit a girl? Even I wouldn't hit a girl. My eyes fell to her arms, I saw a huge cut mixed with dried blood and dirt caked in it.

"Pleeease just jus jusst take me home, I I …I waaaa waann waaaant tooo gooo hooomeee. Would would you please take me hoooome". She pleaded with me

She was shaking so hard and could barely breathe. I just stood there looking at her as my eyes dropped to her knees that were cut up just like her arms.

"I just," she closed her eyes as more tears fell and I saw most of her hair was stuck to her face. It must have been sticky from crying so much and mixed with dirt and sweat. "I just wanna go go gggo home." I don't wanna be here anymore."

_Flash back _

"_Allie where are you?" I yelled. I was getting really worried about Alice she hadn't come home after school and that wasn't like her. She was a good kid always called or asked permission before she did anything. So when she didn't come home I knew something had happened. I called a couple of her friends and they said they had seen her talking to a couple of girls as they were getting on the bus but didn't see her get on her bus so Emmett and I headed out towards the school. I took the back, while Emmett went inside._

"_Alice," I yelled again and that's when I heard it , a faint little whimper coming from the behind the storage room where they kept playground equipment. I walked around to find the most saddest sight I had ever seen. There was my baby sister standing against the wall, with tears running down her face, her hair was stuck to it. I reached up and brushed her hair away from her face, as it was kind of clinging to her face from all her tears and dirt mixed with it._ _I noticed several cuts on her arms and legs also. _

"_Alice? What happened sweetie, talk to me." She looked up with fresh tears running down her face, and her bottom lip was quivering. _

"_I just, I just want to go home Edward, would you pleas please just take mm me hooome." _

_Her whole body was shaking and I could feel a rage in me that I had never felt before. I was not a violent person, had never been in a fight in my life but I could have killed someone at that moment. I felt tears starting to form in my eyes at the sight of my broken little baby sister. A thought came into my head that she could have been possible sexual assaulted and if that was the case I had to get her to the hospital right away._

" _Alice, I am gonna take you home honey, I promise but I have to know who did this to you," I said as a tear or two slipped down my check. Her whole face scrunched as she started to cry harder. _

"_Oh Edward," she cried into my chest. After a few minutes she was able to speak again "These girls they heard about the present you brought back for me from Europe and they asked if they could see it, I said yes *sniff* but then they wouldn't give *sniff* it back. They shoved me and I I …. I fall and ripped my new jeans *sniff* and I got back up and I shoved the one , the one gggirl really hard and she fall. _

"_Allie, you know violence doesn't solve anything why didn't you go and tell one of the teachers?"_

"_Cause I was mad and I hate hate them . So the other one grabbed the back of my hair and threw me on on the *sniff* ground and then I heard a smash and the gggglobe you got me was shattered." _

"_Oh Alice," I said as I picked her up in my arms. "Come on lets get you home. They will be in trouble Alice, we are going to report them to the school and the police."_

"_When we get get home *sniff* I am cutting this stupid long hair, she she couldn't have pulled it, if it was short." _

"_Oh no you're not I love your long beautiful brown hair," I laughed._

"Wi Will you take me home? Please, I just want to go home." She cried.

I heard her but didn't answers, I just stared at her, fuck why did I remember that, why her.

"Please, you you're hurting me," She cried

I most have tighten the grip I had on her elbows because she let out a bit of a loud squeal. I closed my eyes tightly, and took a couple of deep breaths, visions of Alice invading my brain along with the cries from this girl.

My eyes snapped open and I looked into her eyes then back to where my fingers were leaving marks in her elbows. I quickly let go and backed up fast against the wall. I slammed my head back against the wall, letting it bang a couple more times taking deep breaths as I tried to calm my nerves. Slowly I opened my eyes half shocked to see this girl still standing there, why didn't she run was she stupid or slow? Most people would have taken advantage of the fact and ran away from a stranger and one that ... I looked down at the bright red marks on her arms and felt sick to my stomach. Why hadn't she ran and why was she looking at me like the guy who was gonna save her didn't she have an ounce of self preservation in her? I am the fucking bad guy, I am the one who is going to take her to the cruelest, most sick psychotic son of a bitch and she is begging me to take her home. I closed my eyes again and took a deep breath. I couldn't believe I was doing this but this girl reminded me so much of her, I just couldn't do it. Taking another deep breath, I said words that I never had said before.

"Run away now!" I snarled "Get out of here while you still can before I change my mind."

"You're you're letting me go?" She whispered.

My eyes snapped opened. "Do you have a fucking death wish little girl, do you? I said get the fuck out of here before I change my mind and take your ass to Aro. And I can tell you right now you go there you will have wish I had put a bullet in your brain in this alley. Now get the fuck out of here."

She finally got some sense in her head as she started to run down the alley back to the main street. I started to think about what all she was saying and it clicked in 'she wanted to just go home'. Home she couldn't go home Aro had her families information she'd be killed either way. No it doesn't matter it isn't my problem anymore, she gets caught or killed it wasn't my fault, I had a job to do and I was going to do it. But something was knawing at me and I couldn't shake it and I sure as hell didn't like it. This girl remembered me to much of Alice. Before I could stop myself I did another thing I had never done before.

"Hey wait," I screamed down the alley to her.. She stopped and I saw her whole body shake in fear. She most luckily thought I had probably changed my mind and was going to kill her or take her to Aro. She was just froze in place as waiting for it to happen, she slowly turned around with her hands above her head and I could see the fresh tears running down her cheeks.

"Put your fucking hands down I ain't a cop, and you aren't under arrest."

"You , you said I *sniff* I could go hhhome." she sobbed

"No, I didn't say you could go home, I said go. You can't go home Isabella Marie Swan, of 1411 S Forks Avenue, the city of Forks in Washington."

She just stared at me for the longest time with her mouth wide open and eyes blinking like she was sending out Morse code or some shit.

"What? Close your mouth before you catch a fucking bug or something. Although by the looks of you, you're so skinny maybe that's all you eat." What the fuck was that.. I shook my head. I use to say that shit to Alice all the time minus the fucking part. She shut her mouth but continued to blink her eyes like she was signaling the mother ship home.

"How? How did you did you know all that?" She asked with a shocked expressions on her face.

"Really?" I answered "I know everything about you, your mother Renee formally Dryer Swan stay at home mom. Father Charles Swan, Mayor of the fine city of Forks former cop, should I go on?"

"How? Why would you have that information?"

"Cause you fucking stole a million fucking dollars from my boss and now he wants you and your fucking." I stopped myself, why the fuck did I even care. Why was I even arguing with her?

"Are my parents in danger? I have to go to them now."

I was at her side in three long strides." No you can't go home! You can't call them, you get on a bus and go far fucking away and start a new life now."

"I…..I can't" she was shaking her head back and forth like she was having some kind of mental fight with herself. "They're my parents, no matter what they did or what happened in the past I have to warn them."

"You contact them and they are as good as dead, if they aren't already!"

As soon as the words left my mouth, her whole face went pale and she fall to the ground crying..

"Riley," she sobbed

"Riley?" Who the fuck was Riley… "Oh Riley Turner" I asked

"You know *sniff* you know about Riley, they killed him and it's all my fault," She sobbed

"Who killed him? Hey." I shook her arm to get her attention again. "How do you know they killed him, who told you this?" I need this kill to be confirmed this was my fucking job now and if someone was running around taking my 'targets' out I wanted to fucking know who. "Hey." I shook her arm again, "how…. do…. you…..know…. this." I said as slow as possible. She was still shaking her head and she began to ramble almost incoherently at me. From what I could make out it was some man on the phone, pictures, blood, and long blond mother fucking ponytail that son of a bitch James.

"*sniff* Who?" She asked

I must have said he name out loud, fuck.

"It doesn't fucking matter, what matters is you getting your ass on the next bus as far away from here as you can now this shit isn't a game little girl. You need to worry about yourself and for god sakes stop fucking crying."

"But I don't know where to go. If I can't go home, and I can't go with Riley and Char and Peter , Mouse, Jane all gone."

I grabbed her chin gently well I hoped it was gently, lifting it up to look me directly in the eye. "All gone, what do you mean? All gone? They are all dead?"

"What? Oh my god! No, they can't all be dead." She screamed and started crying again.

"What?" You just said they were all dead?" This girl was confusing the hell out of me now.

"No, no I didn't. Are you telling me they are dead or not? God you are confusing the hell out of me!" She yelled back at me

Well ain't that about the pot calling the Kettle black. I confused the hell out of her?

"Excuse me?" I asked "I confuse the hell out of you?" I felt like I had stepped into some warped universe. I took a deep breath and ran my heads through my hair pulling on it slightly as I did. " You" I pointed at her. " Are telling me I confuse you?" You said they are all gone are they all gone like dead?"

"No, they are *sniff* all gone as….I'm not telling you anything, no they are not dead. Now If you are done, I want to leave, you said I could leave as long as I didn't contact my family, correct? They will be safe if I don't contact them right?" She asked as her big brown doe eyes stared directly into mine like she was searching for the truth in mine.

Little does she know I'm an excellent liar, along with my many other talents. I stared directly back at her and did what came natural.

"Yes Isabella, you avoid your home, your parents; no contact and they will be fine." I lied. Shit, for all I knew they were already dead, not my problem, but for some reason I felt like I needed to at least give her a chance to make a new life, a good life. Alice would want me too. Oh who was kidding, Alice would never speak to me if she knew what I have become these last 5 years.

"Okay, thank you umm, I don't know your name?"

"Ha, you don't need to know my name. As a matter of fact forget you ever saw me, got it?"

"Please? I would at least like to know your first name, you saved my life and my parents. I'd like to thank you properly?"

Oh shit, I haven't had that feeling in 5 years and I didn't like it, nope not one fucking bit. Guilt. "Joe." And there I go again lying. I truly was a piece of shit that didn't care.

"Well Joe, thank you very much." She reached out slowly and held her hand out. What the hell did she want to shake my hand? I don't fucking shake hands, did she miss the memo "The Cleaner/Killer' maybe I should start handing out business cards. I glared down at her hand and then back up to her face again. And those damn pleading teary doe eyes stared right back at me. Reluctantly lifted my arm up, and moved my hand over to hers, I mean hell I did lie about her parents, lied about my name I guess it wouldn't 'kill' me to shake her hand to thank me. Ugh there was that damn knawing in my gut again about lying to this girl. Damn her for reminding me of my sister so much, that was the only reason she was still here. I grabbed her hand and started to shake it when I felt a undeniable spark shot up my arm. What the fuck was that shit. I looked at her to see if she had felt it too.

"Thank you very much Joe" She said in a low whisper

Well if she felt it she sure as hell did show it, must have been a muscle spasms or something.

"Well goodbye, Joe" She started to walk down the alley

It took me a moment to realize she had been talking to me. Yeah cause you lied and told her your name was Joe dumb ass. "Don't forget what I said don't go home. Do you know where you are going?" Oh my god what the fuck am I doing? Let the girl just leave already. Why not exchange phone number and emails so she can drop you a line sometime.

"I'm heading to Pennsylvania." She answered, almost too quickly I thought maybe she was lying and was planning on going back to Forks. Then I remembered Riley was from Pennsylvania, was that a coincidence?

"Why Pennsylvania?" I had to ask She closed her eyes for a moment, lost deep in thought. She took a couple of deep breaths before she spoke.

"I promised a friend I would take care of something for them, if, um, something happened and that's what I'm going to do."

"Would this promise be for Riley?" I questioned. Her eyes widened quickly but she tried to cover up her shocked look.

"Why would you ask that?" She asked

"Riley is from Pennsylvania, I was simply asking is he the reason why?" I said with a nasty tone.

"It's his brother and sister and the only reason I am telling you this is because now I am worried they are in danger too?"

"Joey and Kristy aren't there anymore, Isabella." I said, might as well save her a trip and money.

"What? Where are they what happened to them? Oh my god." She came running at me. "These are just children!" She shoved in to me, screaming in my face.

"Hey, knock it off" I grabbed her arms and pinned them to her side." They aren't dead they are in Texas with family now, dad's in jail and the mom's in rehab the kids are well taken care of ." I saw her take a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment then opened them up again.

"Thank you though for telling me, but "I'd like to see that for myself" She said

"Suit yourself, little girl, I don't give a shit where you go, but go now. I've wasted enough time with you." And the ass was back and it felt good.

"Goodbye Joe," she said as she spun around and started to walk out of the alley, grabbing her cell phone as she did making a call.

I had never been so happy to have someone out of my life than I was having her gone. I did not like the way she made me feel, bringing up old feelings about my past life. Nope. That shit is dead and buried and I do not want to think about that again. I leaned into the wall and kicked my foot to wall and pressing my back into it while taking a deep breath and running my hands through my hair again. I grabbed for a smoke realizing I didn't have any, which just made me more pissed off. Well that was one thing I was changing right now. I pushed off the wall and made my way out of the alley and to a local store for a pack of smokes.

-XXXXX-

As I walked out of the corner store I put a smoke in my mouth and while I lit it I grabbed my cell phone and made a call. As I was waiting for the mother fucker to answers I heard a large bang coming from around the corner.

"Yes son, you got good news for me?" Aro asked

"Listen you crazy old fuck the name is Edward not fucking son. Anyways what the fuck is this shit I am hearing on the streets that James is going after my fucking targets?"

"Now so… Edward." He stopped himself again lucky for him. "No one is going after your targets, this happened before you were even actually on the case. I told you we had one at the motel. I am not happy, though. I told everyone I wanted to deal with them myself, but James got so irate over something this Swan said to him, well let's just say dental records will be about the only way to identify this boy's body."

Oh I didn't even want to think about what James did to the kid, but what could Isabella have said that got him so fired up. I had to find out some how without raising suspension.

"Ha, what, a little girl beat him up again or something?"

"No she gave him an ultimatum, and well lets just say that didn't sit well with James and the Riley boy suffered. I've more or less written Miss Swan off too if you don't find her first because if James finds her first, he will gut her like a fish." He chuckled. He fucking chuckled, sick fucking bastard.

"Will you tell James to back the fuck off the little girl and the rest of my fucking 'targets,' this is my show or I'm fucking off the job now, Aro. I am not chasing corpses do you hear me, back your little side show freak off. And he better know Mouse is fucking mine, you promised me!"

"Edward, I already told him this, he gave me his word that he would not actively search for any of them. But as I told you before, if he finds Miss Swan, I know all bets are off." I hung up on him.

My blood began to boil, he would not touch her not when she was, no, she's not Alice, I had to stop this. She was a 'target,' a target I fucking let go and most likely drove right into James' arms. The phone rang and broke me out of my thought,

"What?" I was in no mood for pleasantries today, it was getting late and I was getting hungry.

"Um yea Mr Cullen"?" The voice asked

"You called my cell phone. Do you not know who you called?" I snapped..

"Yessss sir? He shuttered.

"Okay let's try this again one more time before I reach through this phone and rip your fucking tongue out." okay so not original but it got the desired results.

Um, um well yes I saw two people matching the descriptions the people you are looking for?"

"And where would this be?" I asked

"I'm in New Jersey sir."

"Description now!" I demanded.

I hung up the phone after promising to pay this man a visit for annoying the crap out of me. Well looks like I am out of New York and heading for New Jersey to finally come face to face with the ink on my almost perfect record. I was so excited at the thought of finally finishing this boy off, I could have actually smiled but I didn't, I believe I smirked.

I headed back towards the car in the parking lot of Lombardi's Pizza and clicked the button on the alarm system. Sliding into my nice seat, I took a deep breath and pinched the middle of my nose and tried to erase the activities of today.. I started up my car and made a mental check list of all the weapons, I had brought with me trying to think if I needed to make one more stop before heading out to New Jersey . Being happy with what I knew I grabbed I put the car in reserve and started out of the parking lot and that's when I heard it, a slight banging and moving around, I knew it wasn't my weapons I knew that sound too well. What the fuck was making that noise? I turned the radio down slightly to see if I could pinpoint where for sure the noise was.. If I had to take this car to get fixed I was going to be pissed off. Yes I could rent a car but that would take time and I did not have time. I heard the noise again and that's when I knew what it was... son of a bitch someone is going to die today. I slowly turned the car into an empty car lot, don't need witness, and parked the car. Getting out I shut the door quietly while grabbing my Sig out of the holster and press the key to my automatic trunk opener. The trunk flew open and my gun was pressed up against this assholes head..

"You got two seconds to climb the fuck out of my car so I can blast your fucking head off and not get in blood in my baby!"

Slowly they started to turn around as the gun slide with them staying pushed slightly in their face as they did.

"Please don't shoot."

**A/N : As always please review I love hearing your thoughts good or bad as long as it is not hateful. Please do not hate me over Riley but it had to be done, and if it helps at all I cried a lot writing this chapter.. My friends know how hard this was for me and it wasn't a last minute decision. I always kind of knew Riley would die but I made sure to let everyone know in this chapter and last Joey and Kristy (Riley's siblings) are self and happy now.. If that helps at all. Sorry : ( I tried to throw a bit of human in there between 'Joe' (lol) and Bella towards the end to help with such a sad chapter but I probably failed miserable… **

**Rec time: In Darkness or Light** **by psyche001 BUT this is a sequel if you have not read Set in Stone READ IT FIRST.. First it is a amazing story. This woman is a very talented author.. These stories are both on TWCS and FF… you will not be disappointed.**

**Another great story is Ghost by****iwannabe I can't even begin to tell you how good this story is you just have to read it yourself to see. And oh Edward is HOT younger man.. (calling all cougars) yum.. This story is on FF **


	7. Chapter 7

**Stephanie Meyers owns Twilight, I own The Cleaner and play with her characters.**

**As always big huge thank you to my wonderful beta Bellavista88 **

**Another big thank you to my wonderful Pre-reader Barburella, she is a great help.**

**It seems I didn't get as many reviews as I have in the past, I hope that doesn't mean people have given up on my story. But to all of you still here reading and reviewing I thank you so much. Love reading your thoughts**

**As for the long delay in a update, all I can say is RL threw me some nasty curve balls this month. I have two Aunts who are very sick. I won't go into details but family comes first and I hope everyone can understand. For those who know about this thank you so much for your kind words and prayers . All I can say is I am so sorry and hopefully you all haven't left me. **

**Now onto the chapter**

**Chapter song : Pain by Three days Grace. **

**Chapter 7**

**BPOV **

I walked quickly through the crowd until I couldn't see the alley anymore then leaned up against the wall, taking deep breathes. I can't believe that Joe let me leave; I half expected him to grab me at any moment or feel a bullet go through me. I couldn't quite figure him out; when I first saw him, he looked pure evil and his eyes looked at me like he hated the world. I knew I was mumbling and pleading for this stranger to take me home. I knew it made no sense the man was here to kill me, or take me to someone to be killed, but I couldn't bring myself to run or even beg for my life. I just knew I wanted to go home. Which is awful funny when you think about it; what home? I don't have a home to go to anymore. I was no longer welcomed or wanted.

As I leaned up against the wall trying to gain some composure, I thought back to how the man with the most intense green eyes I had ever seen seemed to go off into a world of his own. One minute he was grabbing my arms roughly and the next he was lost in deep thought. He seemed to be so out of it, that I honestly didn't think he was aware of the increased pressure he was putting on my arms. I yelled out once but it was like he didn't hear me, so I yelled again getting the same results as before. His jaw was clenched tightly and his breathing was shallow. The pain was becoming unbearable so I finally yelled as loud as my voice would let me and he seemed to snap out of it. A look of horror went across his face as he looked at my face before his eyes traveled down to the marks his hands had made on my arms and he stepped away quickly. Then he just screamed at me to go. Joe was one confusing person.

After I caught my breath I knew I had to continue on, but to where, I didn't know. I couldn't go home. If he was telling the truth, I couldn't risk putting my parents' life in danger and there really was no reason to go to Pennsylvania now. I grabbed out my cell phone looking to see if I had missed any calls; there was one missed call from Peter's cell phone. I quickly redialed the number and waited for him to answer, after five rings it went to his voice mail. I checked to see if he had left me a message. Oh yes, there was one, I covered up my other ear so I could hear.

_Swan, it's Peter, listen sorry we bailed on you yesterday, Charlotte was getting shoved and some fucker knocked her to the ground. Then the cops came and we had to go; you know my parents have missing posters of me all over the place, I just couldn't take the chance of getting caught. Umm, Bella, shits getting bad; we're being followed__. I think we lost them but we got to get out of town now. We're going to the airport it's crowded there so we'll have a better chance not getting caught by whoever the fuck is chasing us. We'll be at JFK airport today at …_

The phone cut off.

"No!" I yelled out loud. As much as I didn't want to, I guess I could just start heading to the airport and try to find them there. But I didn't even know where they were going and the airport is way too big. I called Peter's cell phone again hoping he'd answer this time.

"Bella," Peter said. I could barely hear him, we had a horrible correction.

"Peter!" I yelled into the phone. "Can you hear me?"

"Yeah, barely. This is a horrible connection. Listen**,** we are heading to the airport, Swan. Meet us there now; we are just getting the first available flight out of here. It's too dangerous. He yelled into the phone.

"Alright, I'll take a cab and I'll be there. Where should I meet you when I get there, Peter?"

"Bella? Are you still there?" Peter yelled.

"Peter, yes I'm here. Where should I meet you?" I screamed into the phone.

"Meet us at Terminal 1; Kal business class lounge," He screamed back. "Bella, I have to go; this yelling is drawing unwanted attention, just get here soon."

"Okay, I will. I am hauling a cab right…" I didn't finish my sentence because 'Armani' was standing 60 feet in front of me with his back to me. I had to get out of here. I could hear Peter

talking to me but I was too terrified to answer in case he heard me. I took off running as fast as my feet would take me.

"Peter," I loud whispered into the phone. "Peter, he's here." Again, I spoke directly into the phone as loud as I could without directing attention to myself. I didn't look back until I rounded the corner. I took a quick peek. Oh, fuck! I could see the top of his blond hair pushing its way through the crowd heading right towards me. I took off in a full run ending back up where I was. If Joe was still there would he help me? I don't know, did they work together? But Joe let me go, so… ugh! I didn't know what to do. If I went back to the alley and he wasn't there I could get trapped by 'Armani' and for sure be killed. So I ran passed the alley really quickly, looking where we had been standing. Of course he wasn't there, why would he be? How stupid of me. I kept running until I had rounded another corner, only then did I stop to check for 'Armani'. When I couldn't see him, I continued forward but instead of running I walked quickly. I think I pushed my luck enough with not falling.

I came across a parking lot and leaned up against the wall, sliding down so I was hiding behind the wall and a car. I heard voices; one voice I knew all too well by now; it was him. I noticed I was shaking. Half because I wanted to run out and kill him myself for what he had done to Riley and half because I was scared to death because I knew if he got a hold of me he would follow through with his threat and make me suffer ten times worse than poor Riley. As I was crouched down I noticed the Viper alarm sticker. I smiled a bit. This alarm was the top of the line but one of the easiest to break into _'thank you once again, Mouse_.' He had boosted expensive cars for various chop shops around the city. He had shown us all how to disarm alarms long enough to get in the car and shut if off properly. Thank god for whoever owned this car because they had parked it with the trunk facing the wall so I could disarm the alarm, pop the trunk, get in and hide out until I was sure 'Armani' was gone. Hopefully whoever this car belonged to wasn't leaving anytime soon, but I couldn't worry about that right now. I knew I couldn't outrun Armani, so I had to hide in a better spot.

I would have to contact the others later, right now Armani was too close. I pulled out the lock-pick I always carried in my back pocket and made fast work of picking the lock on the trunk. I knew time was of the importance. I peeked out quickly and saw Armani over by the front of the building looking around but not looking in my direction. So when I heard the lock pop, I quickly lifted the trunk just enough to climb in and shut it behind me. For several minutes I listened to the voices coming and going from the parking lot.

When I hadn't heard any voices for about 5 minutes, I got ready to open the trunk and take a look when I heard the alarm being deactivated. Shit! I didn't want to be stuck in this trunk, but it was too late the car was starting. Okay, so new plan; I'd just get out as soon as I could and catch a cab to the airport. I knew my way around New York well enough, it would be fine, I kept telling myself. I adjusted myself in the tight little space trying to get as comfortable as I could for as long as I was stuck in here.

"Crap," I whispered to myself as I accidentally bumped into something back here with me. I felt the car moving and my body jerked a little as whoever the hell was driving took off a little too fast. My body banged into another object and it poked me in the back, I quickly moved it away from me as quietly as I could. I was grateful when I heard the engine turn off and I wasn't being thrown around like a rag doll anymore with the speed-demon idiot driver. Now all I had to do was wait a bit then pop the trunk and be on my way. I was lying there waiting when I heard a click and before I could react the trunk opened and a gun was stuck in my face. I froze I didn't know what else to do. Yeah, lay still Bella, maybe they won't notice you, I mocked myself. Who the hells car did I climb into? Who does that, open up their trunk and stick a gun in your face. All these thoughts were going through my mind when as if they heard my inner ramblings the voice finally spoke and it was a voice I knew all too well.

"You've got two seconds to climb the fuck out of my car so I can blast your fucking head off and not get in blood in my trunk!"

Slowly, I started to turn around as the gun stayed pushed against my face, I needed to speak. Maybe if he knew it was me he wouldn't shoot. I knew I couldn't continue to ignore him, so finally I spoke. "Please, don't shoot," I pleaded; I heard the sharp breath before I heard Joes' voice.

"Fuck," he mumbled. "Get the fuck out of there now!" he hissed as he took the gun off my face. "What the fuck are you doing hiding in my trunk?"

As I climbed out I started rambling like an idiot. "I'm sorry, I didn't know this was your car, I was being chased and I had to hide and I wouldn't have picked your car if …"

"Jesus, shut up! You're fucking rambling. Are you fucking crazy, do you have any idea how dangerous it is to climb into someone's trunk? I could have been a fucking rapist!" He suddenly smirked a little to himself before continuing. "This is New York City, you don't climb into people's trunks, you don't do that shit. You are damn lucky I didn't just shoot your ass," he sneered.

"Didn't you listen to a word I said? I had to hide! If I didn't I would have been caught, or killed. I was only planning on hiding in there," I motioned towards his car, "until I knew he was gone. You were never supposed to know I was even in there."

He looked to be deep in thought again for a moment as he looked at me then back at his car again.

"How?" He asked. I looked at him with confusion before I spoke.

"How what?" I asked.

"How the fuck did you get in my trunk? My alarm was on."

"Oh," I kind of snickered. Yea real smart, Bella. Piss the man who has a very big gun in his hand, off further. "It was actually pretty easy, I just disarmed your alarm long enough to climb in." I said while he stared at me like I had just spoken in a foreign language. So I felt the need to give a little more information.

"I know how to deactivate car alarms and pick locks and this one in particular is a pretty easy one to do." I said hoping that wouldn't piss him off more and he would put the gun away. No such luck. He ran his fingers through his hair once quickly and gripped onto his gun tighter. Then, taking a deep breath as if to calm himself down, he glared into my eyes quickly again as if he was debating something, before speaking.

"I told you to get the fuck out of town, why didn't you leave? Do you have a fucking death wish? Do you think this is some fucking game? Do you?" He grabbed my arms roughly, staring directly into my eyes. "Why didn't you just get the fuck out of here when you had the chance? I can't …" He stopped in mid sentence.

"I told you, I was trying to get out of town. I was heading to the airport when I stopped to make a call and that's when I saw Armani in front of me and I ran and…ugh you know all of this! I told you. Just let me leave now and I'll be gone, I promise and let go you're hurting me." I tried to yank my arms out of his grasp.

He loosened his grip but didn't let go. "Who the fuck is Armani?" He questioned.

"That guy, the one with the long pony tail, I think you called him James," I whispered as if I said his name to loud he would appear.

"Mother fucker!" He yelled letting go of my arms and stepping back. "He's here, he saw you?"

I swallowed before I spoke, Joe was honestly scaring the shit out of me. "Yes." I shuttered as I spoke.

"Fuck!" He muttered. "This is not good, not good at all. I don't need this extra shit, not now."

"Umm…" I wasn't sure what was going on but I knew I needed to get out of here and now. This guy was coming unglued in front of me and really starting to creep me out. "Sorry, I was in your trunk, I'll just get going now and I promise you won't see me again."

"You don't get it, you can't go anywhere." He said with a grave voice.

Oh god, he changed his mind. He was going to turn me in, or kill me, I just knew it. I started to back up but I knew I couldn't out run his gun. Instead, I just closed my eyes and hoped he would kill me fast. I felt the tears springing from my eyes as my impending death approached. I wasn't overly religious, but I started to pray to God to forgive me for all I had done wrong in my life.

"What are you doing? Are you praying?" Joe asked.

"Well," I sniffed. "Yes I am praying because you're going to kill me or take me to be killed. I…" I broke off with a sniff, I couldn't finish my sentence.

He looked at me like he couldn't believe the words I had just spoken. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before he finally spoke. "I told you I wasn't …..going…..to….. hurt….you. God you, you drive me crazy. Do you not listen?" He snarled. "Obviously not or we wouldn't be having this conversation. If I was going to do that I would have done it but now that you just told me that he was actively looking for you, he stopped and took a deep breath.

"Either I let you go and you are as good as dead, which that being the case I might as well kill you myself, or I finish what I started and make sure you are safe till this is all over. And trust me, he sneered. "I would love nothing more than to let you deal with the mess you caused all on your own but," He paused "damn you for looking so much like her!" he shook his head. "I can't do it!"

"Who?" I whispered in a soft voice, regretting the words as soon as they came out of my mouth. But I was curious as to who I looked like or reminded him of. An ex girlfriend maybe? Whoever it was I wanted to send her flowers or a thank-you note for basically saving my life yet again.

"It doesn't fucking matter who, she's gone for good. Just drop it!" He shouted.

"Dead?" I thought. Does he mean she is dead? Did he kill her? No, if he killed her he wouldn't care about me being killed. "What do you mean, I don't understand. Why can't I leave?" I know I sounded like a whiny child, but I was so tired and hungry and just sick and tired of running and being scared. I just wanted to go home but I couldn't. I just wanted to go somewhere and sleep.

"James or as you call him, Armani, is well, for lack of better word, a tracker; a hired killer. He has set his sights on you and he will not stop until you are dead. Simple enough."

I gulped loudly trying to form words as I took in what he just said. "Why me? What did I do?"

"You pissed him off. You challenged him and got away and he doesn't like it."

"He killed my friend." I all but whispered. Thoughts of Riley's bloody body and screams ran through my head and made me shiver. I started feeling lightheaded and very dizzy; everything started to turn to black. I could barely make out what was being said to me.

"What's wrong with you? You aren't going fucking pass out on me, are you? Hey, seriously what's wrong?"

"I…" Everything went black. I started to feel very weak and faint and the next thing I knew I was falling.

**EPOV**

"What the …" I quickly reached out and grabbed her before she could fall to the ground. She went down like a sack of potatoes. Fuck, what was wrong with her? I scooped her up into my arms and carried her back to my car. Man, I don't need this shit. I was due on a plane in about an hour and I still had to get to the damn airport. Granted I was taking the private jet but still, they had to stay on a schedule too. Well what am I going to do with her now? I thought to myself as I laid her in the front seat and buckled her up. Then it hit me, the only person I knew who I could trust, he wouldn't be too happy hearing from me but he'd have to get over it. If he knew some poor innocent girl was involved he couldn't say no. I got in the driver's seat and took off towards his house.

I prayed he would be home as I turned onto his street. I had to laugh when I saw his old 1968 Pontiac Firebird 350 in the driveway. God he loves that old car; I remember the day he went to buy it. We did have some great times despite how we met. God I missed him, it's been over a year and a half since we stopped speaking. He couldn't understand why I didn't leave this life, he had left about 2 years ago but my situation was worse than his. Worse than even Jasper knew, no one knew the whole story, no one could but Jasper knew the most out of everyone. He thought his contacts could protect me but could they protect the ones I cared about? Protect the ones I do this for everyday? He couldn't guarantee that, no one could and it wasn't worth it to me. I could live with blood on my hands but not theirs. The one who caused all this, the man who put me here in the first place, no problem. But the rest of them, no... Not Emmett, or my mother and sure as hell not Alice. The one person Aro holds over my head every time he even thinks I am having second thoughts. No, there is no way out for me. Not without someone I love being hurt.

I walked up to the front door and lifted my hand to knock, taking a deep before I did. Damn, I was nervous. Me nervous, I chuckled. Finally lifting my hand, I knocked on the door and waited for a response. A part of me was hoping he wasn't home; I could just break in put her on his couch and creep out without him even knowing I was here. I mean really, what would she tell him? Someone named Joe brought her here? I was drawn out of my thoughts as I heard footsteps heading towards the door. I was debating whether I should look straight ahead or hide my face knowing Jasper would look through the peep-hole before opening the door. I wasn't sure if he'd open the door if he saw me. .

The door was flung open and a very pissed off Jasper opened it with Ruger mp9 pointed straight at me.

"Give me one could reason why I shouldn't blow your fucking head off. You've got ten seconds, make it good!" Jasper sneered.

I winked at him and made a motion for him to look down; I had my Sig Sauer P226 pointed directly at his liver. A fatal and a fucking painful way to go.

Jasper sniggered before lowering his gun and mumbling something along the lines of 'lucky fucker'.

"So what the fuck brings you here to darken my doorway, Masen?" He snapped.

"Damn, no hug, Whitlock? I'm hurt and here I thought you'd be happy to fucking see me."

"What the fuck do you want? Edward. 'Cause for the life of me I can't imagine what it could possibly be!"

He was right, too much shit had happened between us to pretend. But fuck! You'd have thought being as I was the one who got him the fuck out of this business and insured his safety, he'd be a little more grateful but in our business you didn't survive being nice.

"I need a favor and since you fucking owe me, I'm here to fucking collect." I got right to the point.

"After two years you've finally came here to collect, huh? Well that's fine, just tell me what the fuck it is so our dealings can be over and I can be done with all of it and you, once and for all." Jasper said with irritation in his voice.

"Yeah, what the fuck ever. Do you think I would be here if I had another choice? You are good at what you do…I mean did." I corrected myself. "And I need the best and I'm busy hence my reason for coming here." I pointed towards the car.

"You want me to take your car? I'm confused?" Jasper asked.

I pinched the bridge of my nose taking in a few deep breathes, really is he that stupid?

With a sigh I continued. "No Jasper, not my fucking car, what's in my car." I started to walk towards the car assuming he would follow me, so I didn't bother looking back. I turned to face him when I had reached the car. Jasper looked at me and the car before moving a bit closer, his eyes widening.

"What the fuck is that?" He asked.

"That is what we call a girl; I need you to watch her for me while I'm taking care of business."

"Oh no no ... I am not a babysitter, Edward and what the hell have you got a girl for? Last time I checked you were a killer not a kidnapper!"

Running my hands through my hair, I spoke through a snarl. "Listen, you fuck. I didn't kidnap her, she hid in my fucking trunk and… it doesn't fucking matter! Just keep her ass here. I have to go." I made my way around the other side to grab out a still unconscious Bella.

"What the fuck did you do to her? What's wrong with her? I want to know why you have her or get your ass back in that car and take her the hell out of here. I don't want no fucking problems coming to my door, Edward."

I was a little taken back by what he implying. Nah, strike that. I was fucking was pissed off and in no mood for twenty questions.

"I didn't do shit to her, she fucking passed out on me and I need to you to watch her. That's all you need to know right now because I have to go. I'm late as it is. We can play catch up later."

"Give me the cliff's notes then." Jasper said back.

I quickly relayed the story to Jasper watching his eyes grow bigger as I explained how I ended up with her at his door. I could see the range of emotions in his eyes, from shock to disbelief, to horror by the time I was finished.

"Fuck, Edward are you crazy? This girl is a target and you didn't follow orders, but brought her back to my house! My fucking home, Edward! Fuck! It would have been better if you had kidnapped her…You're fucking crazy! Seriously." He pounded his fist into a nearby tree.

He was pacing back and forth and I really didn't have time for this shit. I knew why he was upset and, fuck! I didn't like the situation I found myself in either. You don't disobey a direct order no matter what and I had.

"Edward, what were you thinking?" Jasper finally stopped pacing and looked at me. "A direct order, Edward. You just signed your death warrant, along with mine. Fuck!"

"I couldn't do it, dude," I whispered. "She reminds me to much of…of…her." I couldn't finish, I couldn't say her name. He knew how much my sister meant to me; more than anything else in this world.

He spun around and looked in the car at the passed out girl in the passenger sit and 'back at me shaking his head.

"Damn you, Masen. Get her in my house now." He said shaking his head.

I opened the passenger door, picked Bella up and carefully shut the door behind me, I followed Jasper into the house and he motioned for me to put her on the couch. Laying her down carefully, I walked back out to the front pouch, with Jasper following behind me.

"Thanks man and um, she maybe hungry when she wakes up. I don't know when she last ate, but she weighs like nothing. You got my cell phone if anything happens and no matter what you do; don't let her leave 'till I get back. James is really looking for this one. I gotta go. I'll call you when I get to where I'm going."

With that I turned on my heels and made my way to my car and drove off without looking back. Fuck, Jasper was right; I did sign my own death warrant and now, by involving him, I fucking signed his too. Being caught disobeying a direct order would get me in trouble and by knowing about it, he would be considered just as guilty.

I had to take care of business in New Jersey; continue to follow my orders, throwing off any reason for Aro to question me. I needed to buy time and getting the others would buy me the time I needed, hopefully.

I pulled into the airport parking lot and got out my phone. I quickly made arrangements for my car to be driven back to my place because no way in hell was I leaving my baby here. I called the pilot, letting him know I was here and making sure the airplane was fueled and ready for takeoff because I was already late. I boarded the plane and made myself comfortable before calling a few contacts to see if there had been anymore sightings of my target.

~~xx~~xx~~xx~~xx

My rental car was waiting when I got off the plane. I knew where I was going; he was last seen, according to my source, in Jersey City. I hopped into the rented Dodge Viper and took off down the road… holy shit, it handled sweet as fuck but nope, didn't hold a candle to my Ferrari Enzo. Yeah, I'm a bit odd; talking about my car like it's my girl, but shit, it was the closest thing to a love relationship I had, or could have, in this line of business.

Thinking of love reminded me of a 'special friend' I may have to look up while in town. The lovely Melanie, or Mel, as I called her for short. She wasn't as dependable as Marissa, but she was a good gal and always down for a 'good time' on short notice. Like I said, I don't date but these girls all knew I wasn't the 'take home to meet the parents' type and were okay with that. No time for clingy girls in my life.

Bella.

That fast my thoughts drifted to her. Why was I so drawn to her? Why did I feel the need to protect her and keep her safe? Alice, it has to be Alice. I've been thinking about her so much since Bella came into my life. That must be why. It made sense; she reminded me so much of my sister.

I pulled into the parking lot across from a little market he quite frequently visited and started to set up as I waited. I took out my Sig and screwed on my suppressor. Knowing I was behind schedule and would more than likely be here over night, I knew I needed a place to stay. There is only one place I would stay in this city, so I grabbed my cell phone and made the call to secure 'a room' for the night.

I got out of the car after I had taken care of my phone, smirking as I did. I scoped out the locations, escape routes and anything else a fucking little rodent could dodge and hide in. I had my beanie hat on with sunglasses and a hoodie over that. We had seen each other once or twice and even though it had been a while, I couldn't take the chance of scaring him off or letting him on to the fact I was here.

It was almost 11 at night and the store was getting ready to close so I figured he wasn't coming. I was getting ready to call it a night when I saw someone coming out of the shadows. I slumped down in my seat and pulled out my binoculars so I could see who it was in case I had to get in position. A smiled played on my face as the bain of my existence, the one mark on my otherwise perfect 'record', came walking straight for the store. Cocky little fucker, thinking he was untouchable, acting like he didn't have a care in the world.

I exited the car as soon as he walked into the store and positioned myself over by the alley I had scoped out earlier. I waited. This was the perfect spot; I could still see the front door but had quick access to the back just in case. I heard the chiming of the front door and made my way slowly down the alley and back up towards the front, following at a safe distance. As soon as he was a clear distance from the store I made my move. I walked faster, passing him quickly on his left side and continuing at a fast pace until I hit a side street. Turning down there I waited for a moment until I came back out and saw him approaching, walking fast. I hit him full on, knocking him to his ass. He looked up and got ready to speak but I took my sunglasses off and let the recognition hit him. And oh, when it did, it was sweet. I could see the range of emotions going through his face; he knew his time had come. I didn't say a word, just motioned over towards the back alley behind a dumpster. In a last ditch attempt I could see he was trying to look over any angle of escape but I had made sure there was none. Finally, I spoke.

"Three years you have managed to avoid me; not be caught. I must say I am impressed, I'll give you that. No one has ever been able to get away from me, but you."

He just stared at me for a few moments not saying a word, like he was still trying to think of a way out of this. I almost was in awe of this boy; not only had he escaped me like no one else, but he had stayed out of our radar for three years and now, when his death is staring him straight in the face, he didn't even whimper or shed a single tear. I've seen bigger, stronger men than him reduced to tears, begging and pleading for their lives to be spared, but not this kid.

"Alright kid, it's time. But since you did the impossible and impressed me by actually getting away, I'm going to do something for you. I'm going to make it as quick and painless as possible."

"Fuck you," he sneered.

"Fuck me." I answered back. "Ha!" I laughed. "Nah, fuck you kid.' I pointed my gun straight at his temple and pulled the trigger once... twice… and watched his body hit the ground.

Looking down at his lifeless body, I put my gun back. There was no need to check two bullets to the brain; direct hit. He was dead. I pulled out my phone to confirm the hit while searching him for the money. 'Bingo!' I flipped through and could tell it was minus a couple of hundred but that was to be expected. Aro could deal with that shit; it wasn't my problem. My problem was sitting in my ex-partner and formal friends' house. I picked up the shell casings putting them in my pocket to be disposed of later.

"Fuck." I mumbled to myself when I thought about that one.

Just as I was getting up I heard a low gasp, I spun around quickly, just in time to see the back of a young woman running away. "Fuck!" I mumbled to myself. No witnesses.

I pulled out my gun, leaving Mouse's dead body lying where I shot him. Wasn't like he was going anywhere but the Hudson river later and took off at a fast pace behind her. All of a sudden she turned her head real quick to see me coming up behind her. But she wasn't quick enough; I was able to make out her face. It was that girl, Jane. Damn, today was turning out to be a pretty good day after all; this girl just saved me the trouble of hunting her down. As our eyes made contact for a brief second I saw the look of horror on her face before she took off at full speed.

"Mother fucker." I grumbled. I was not in the mood for a chase. As I was running behind her I was cursing myself for smoking again. Fuck, it's not like I was in bad shape but smoking sure didn't help. If it wasn't for the few people and cars wondering around on the streets I would have just pulled out my Sig and ended it right then and there. A nice shot to the back of the leg would take her down and I could ship her off to Aro.

We rounded the corner and just as I was reaching out for her, she full on ran right out into oncoming traffic. It stopped me dead in my tracks; Jane just stopped right in the middle of the street and turned to look at me with a far off look in her eyes. Then she slowly turned back towards the truck barreling down the street straight towards her. What the fuck was she doing? The road was too icy, that truck would never be able to stop in time. She slowly turned her gaze back to me and just stared directly into my eyes. I returned the look, not looking away as the truck tried to slam on its brakes. Right before impact she screamed out, "I love you, Mouse!" The truck slammed into her tiny little body and ran right over her like she was nothing more than a piece of paper blowing in the wind.

I must have stood there for a minute or two because I was brought out of my thoughts by screams for 911 and others who were rushing out into the traffic to see if she was alive or not. I knew she wasn't and if she was, she wasn't long for this world. I looked around; the crowd had gotten larger, all gathering around the accident. I had to make a decision.

I headed over there to 'offer my assistance' which really meant looking for the money. It was either that, or telling Aro 'sorry about your luck' and leave now. I decided as much as I despised him, I wasn't in the mood to hear his shit. I walked over, just another concerned citizen. I had to make it quick since the police and ambulance were on their way.

"I'm a medical student." I announced as I made my way through the growing crowd.

A path was cleared and I walked over to the mangled remains of the girl. Her eyes were wide open and it felt as if she was still staring directly into my eyes just as she had moments before. I had to turn my eyes; for the first time in my 5 years in this business I was disturbed by what I had just seen. Her eyes were so intense and I could feel them burning into mine as we held each other's gaze. It did something to me and I didn't like it, not one fucking bit. I continued to 'check her vitals' while actually searching for the money.

'Jack pot!' Hidden inside her jacket pocket I felt the bulge of what I assumed was the money in an envelope. I carefully lifted her body up slightly and removed her jacket and gently placed it under her head and continued to mindlessly feel around her lifeless body acting as if I was checking to see if there was any helping her. I knew there wasn't, but I had to keep up appearances, at least for a moment. I motioned a few others over, making up a story about needing help with something. As all attention was focused on her and what I was saying, I quickly reached in grabbed the envelope and put it in my pocket. I then stood up and announced she was gone. I started backing away from the crowd to make my exit as I heard the sounds of sirens in the background.

I quickly made my way back to my car and grabbed the phone, letting Aro know I had retrieved the money from both 'targets' and explaining what had happened with Jane. To say he wasn't very happy was an understatement. 'Sick bastard' I thought to myself knowing how he would have tortured the girl before ending her life, just for stealing from him. I also let him know I was not touching the body, I needed to get out of there; too many people had seen me and I had comprised myself already by being seen. So one of his guys could come and throw the body in the Hudson; I was done. One more stop for the night and out of New Jersey by morning.

~xx~~xx~~xx ~~xx

I leaned against the door and gave my sexiest smirk as she opened the door in nothing but a tight spaghetti strap tank top and matching boy shorts.

"Mel…" was all I managed to get out before I was pulled into her apartment and hugged tight. Someone was happy to see me and I wasn't complaining. It had been a while since I'd gotten any. A man had needs and mine were about ready to be fulfilled.

I grabbed her ass tight and turned us around, slamming her into the door and pressing my body against hers so she could feel just how fucking hard I was. I cupped her ass giving it hard squeeze before I pulled down the shorts she was wearing.

"That's my girl," I smirked as I felt her starting to get wet from my touch. I moved my fingers over her clit, back and forth, before pushing two fingers into her. "I've missed you," I said as my lips were pressed up against her neck. Leaving open mouth kisses while my fingers curled up into her.

"These need to come off now." Mel said as she pulled my jeans down in one quick motion.

"Fuck me now, baby," She moaned in my ear and that was my undoing.

I pinned her arms above her head with one hand. I had already pulled out a condom so I put it by Mel's mouth, having her rip it open with her teeth before putting it on one handed. Yeah, I'm that talented. Leaning into her ear I whispered, "ready to get thoroughly fucked?"

I heard a whimper coming from her and took it as a yes. I rammed my hard dick into her and felt her walls immediately clamping around my dick. Marissa has her thing and Mel has hers; she could squeeze her pussy muscles so tight around a dick. I snickered to myself.

I continued to thrust in and out of her but my mind just wasn't in the game. It kept going back to the girl, Jane, who had chosen to kill herself rather than be taken by me. In a sick way I envied her; I gladly would have chosen death over this life. But my death would only bring problems and pain to my family and although I am a selfish bastard, I wouldn't…couldn't, let harm come to them.

I was brought out of my deep thoughts by a loud moan coming from Mel. I quickened my pace as I brought my lips to her ear whispering, "Cum for me now, baby." I moved my lips to her neck and left my famous mark on her as she came violently. I still hadn't cum; this wasn't working for me. I grabbed her wrist I had held above her head and took her over to her couch so I could enter her from behind. Finally, after a few more thrusts, I got my release. As I filled up the condom I let out a low growl, after resting against her back for a minute I disposed the used condom in a nearby garbage can.

"Hey, baby, I'm going to grab a quick shower," I said. Looking down at myself I noticed I had dried blood on my hands and clothes from Jane and Mouse. I almost felt bad for not showering before but she didn't seem to mind, or hadn't noticed, so I shrugged it off. After a nice, long, hot shower I climbed into bed and after having sex a few more times I was off into a peaceful sleep.

I woke up before she did, having gotten about 4 hours of sleep which was a good amount for me. I kissed her gently on the forehead and left her apartment. I had important issues waiting for me back in New York and I still had no idea how I was going to deal with one in particular.

Pulling out my phone as I walked through the parking lot I called Jasper to check on our Miss Swan and see if she was giving him any shit. As soon as Jasper picked up the phone I had to hold it away from my ear as he started screaming.

"Whoa! Calm the fuck down, Jazz! She did what?" I was listening to him; not believing what I was hearing. "She's locked in the bathroom? _You_ locked her in the bathroom?" I waited to hear his response. "She locked _herself_ in the bathroom? Well pick the fucking lock, Jazz and get her out …. she what?" This Miss Swan was turning out to be more trouble than she was fucking worth. "Alright… Fuck, I said alright! I'm fucking on my way. Now calm the fuck down, Jasper. I have one more stop then I'll be there." With that I shut my phone.

By the time I'd hung up with Jasper I was fucking fuming. How dare that ungrateful little brat? I seriously think someone needed to be taken over my knee and spanked like the 5 year old she was acting like... I knew then and there that this Bella Swan was going to be a handful. I needed to figure something out and figure it out fast.

**A/N *hides in the corner* don't hate me please. It had to be done. Everyone has to remember Edward has no feelings for Bella at this point and this is his job, that's what he does. As far as sleeping with yet another woman, again he isn't doing anything wrong; he has no relationship with Bella yet so he wasn't cheating and he isn't a whore. Hopefully I still had some readers after my long absence and hopefully I still have some readers after this chapter. Please review I love hearing your thoughts. Again I can only say how sorry I am this took so long and I will be starting the next chapter Monday. Thank you everyone for being so patient and understand.. HAPPY NEW YEAR. **


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